Chapter 8 begins by telling us that, after a day spent among the crowds in the temple, Jesus retired to the Mount of Olives. He probably wasn't alone here either, I read that it was a popular spot for out of town Jews to "camp" during feast days when Jerusalem was so crowded. People would sleep among the olive trees that grew then on the sides of the hill. I can imagine the murmur of voices as people prepared to sleep, the silence settling in as the last of the sunlight faded, the breeze rustling the leaves of the trees and mixing with the soft calls of night birds. In this setting, I can picture Jesus preparing Himself in prayer for the day that is coming, drawing close to the One who Sent Him for strength and guidance. He is going to need both!
As the new day begins, a refreshed Jesus makes His way to the temple early. People begin to gather around Him and He sits down to teach them. The jealous scribes and Pharisees hatch a plan to discredit Jesus in front of this crowd and they bring a woman "taken in adultery" through the group of listeners and shove her in front of Jesus. They state the case against the woman and issue the challenge "What sayest thou?" Jesus lets them stew awhile, ignoring them, then issues His own challenge "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Their own conscience causes them to melt away into the crowd one by one. Jesus gives the woman her freedom with the words "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more". He gives her not only tangible freedom, but freedom from the sin itself and her past. Everyone of us as Christians knows the wonderful feeling of that weight being lifted.
I wonder about that woman, I wonder did she stay on the outskirts of the crowd to listen to Jesus' teachings or did she run away in shame? And the crowd themselves, how did that incident change them? Surely at first they were probably loud in their condemnation of the woman, but did Jesus words strike their conscience too? Did they suddenly see their own sinful souls as the scribes and Pharisees did? If they did, then the next part of Jesus sermon would strike home.
Jesus starts by telling these people "I am the Light of the World". He tells them they need no longer walk in the darkness of sin. As the Jewish leaders try again to discredit Him, His answers make it clear to the crowd that there is a big difference between these bullying braggarts and the humble but confident man they came to listen to. It says that after these words "many believed on Him". And Jesus, sensing the turning point, offers them the same freedom He gave to the woman earlier "The Truth shall make you free". He explains that sin enslaves you, but the Son of God can set you free from the bondage of sin!
However, as the change in the crowd becomes apparent, the group against Jesus begins to attack Him again from a standpoint where they felt they had an advantage. They were the teachers and interpreters of the Law of Moses, Authorities on God and His Laws! This Jesus was at best an itinerant preacher. But Jesus showed them up on every point with an assurance in His Father that they could not summon from their dry, dusty writings. He reduced them to schoolboys hurling insults. You do not get in a fight with Jesus over "My daddy can whup your daddy"! You will lose!
It is ironic that this loss of face, coupled with a loss of control in their emotions caused these self righteous men to start picking up stones again. They were going to do at the end of the chapter the very thing they set out to do with the woman in the first part of it. They were going to stone Jesus! For a Lunatic? For a Heretic? or just out of sheer anger on their part? It says Jesus "hid Himself" "going through the midst of them" and "so passed by" (v.59) By some miraculous means, Jesus gains His Freedom from them. As it says in verse 20, "His hour was not yet come."
Freedom is a big word... It is hard to pin down because Freedom means different things to each person. It all comes down to what you want to be free from. Freedom has been the subject of countless poems, books, songs and even holidays. It has been fought for and won. It has been longed for and lost. In this chapter of John, I saw Freedom being given to one, offered to many and threatened by a few. And I remembered the freedom from sin that I first felt as a 16 year old girl, when I realized that "For all have sinned" meant me and that all I had to do to be free of that burden was laid out in one verse "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
For God so loved the world......