He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone

Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 

The Pharisees, in an attempt to discredit Jesus, brought a woman charged with adultery before Him. They reminded Jesus that adultery was punishable by stoning under Mosaic Law and challenged Him to judge the woman. However, they cared nothing about this woman; they were using her to trap Jesus (John 8:6). In their minds, if He tells them to set the woman free, they could claim He does not hold to the Law of Moses, and therefore, is a lawbreaker and not one anyone should listen to. If He tells them to stone her, they could claim He does not know the Law concerning its procedures, and therefore, not a great teacher as some thought He is. And, if He says nothing, they could claim He lacks wisdom.

Some scholars think that the Roman law forbids the Jewish people from putting anyone to death. If that's true, it means Jesus is caught in a no-win situation. If He says that the woman should be stoned, He'll be breaking the Roman law. If He says that she shouldn't be stoned, then He'll be breaking the Mosaic Law.

Jesus thought for a moment and then replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her” (John 8:7). The people crowded around him were so touched by their own consciences that they departed. When Jesus found Himself alone with the woman, He asked her where her accusers were. She replied, “No man, lord.” Jesus then said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

Many arrived at the wrong conclusion based on Jesus’ statement and concluded that we cannot judge another person because we are not perfect. No one, therefore, possesses the moral authority to condemn. But note carefully that Jesus did not say the woman did not commit anything wrong. In fact, He reminded her of the sin of adultery/prostitution by telling her "Go and sin no more."  He judged her a sinner. He did not excuse her the sin of adultery/prostitution but forgave her of it.

Jesus is not teaching that one must be perfect in order to judge sin. What Jesus did in John 8:7 was to expose the sin of the Jewish leaders and charge them with being inconsistent in their judgment. The scribes and Pharisees were not without sin in this particular matter. John records that they “convicted by their own conscience” and they left the scene in shame (John 8:7).

The lesson is: Christians CAN judge and we must in order to rebuke sin and save a sinner from his sins (2 Timothy 4:2). In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul judged some Christians to be sinners (1 Corinthians 1:11; 3:1; 5:1; 6:7). The key is that judging is to be done in a righteous manner - with all fairness. We are not to be self-righteous in our judging (Mattew 7:1-5). In fact, notice what Jesus says directly on the issue of judging: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

Jesus did not refrain from judgment. He told the woman: “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). He called her act a sin. Likewise, it is right for us to expose sin for what it is: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

In simple term, to reprove means to scold or reprimand. To reprove is to express your dissatisfaction or disapproval with something; to censure. But in order to reprove or rebuke someone, judging is required.

The scribes and Pharisees had a different agenda when they brought the woman to Jesus (John 8:6). Our Lord saw their hypocrisy and rebuked them. He showed mercy on the adulterous woman by not condemning her but telling her to sin no more.

Likewise, we should use every possible opportunity to forgive and to reach out with the gospel and the love of Christ, always remembering that we, too, are sinners in need of the Saviour (Romans 3:23).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.