Standing for the Accused: The Story of the Adulterous Woman

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My son came home from a teen social event dismayed over how people were treating others.

All it takes is one teenager to make a snark remark and it becomes easy for multiple others to follow. Perhaps they follow because they don’t know any better. They are kids, after all.

Maybe it’s because they are afraid of becoming the next target. Or possibly, they’ve never been taught how to treat others well.

However, it’s something I see on a daily basis in society, regardless of age.

Making someone else feel small so you can feel big.

It is one of the biggest problems in modern day society. And our depression and suicide rates will easily prove it.

The Story of the Adulterous Woman

Watching this take place in my son’s circle of friends made me think of the adulterous woman brought before Jesus by accusers.

“ Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.⁵ Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 

⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:2-11

Four Perspectives

Now in this story we have four distinct perspectives.

• The woman: Brought in without choice to be ridiculed before a crowd. The victim.
• The Scribes and Pharisees: The accusers, powerful and revered among the people.
• Jesus: An influential figure given the choice to join the accusers or forge a different path.
• The crowd: The Bible says, “All the people came to him”. So there was a crowd of witnesses to this event.

As a modern day society that is enthralled by reality TV drama, the latest controversial headline in the news, and the need to shout our opinions from the rooftops without care or concern for others, I have to ask:

Which person are you?

This Biblical event is so relatable to modern day society, it may as well have been broadcast on the evening news.

The Woman

Are you the woman?

Someone who has no control. No status. No ability to defend herself. She did, after all, commit adultery.

However, she’s someone being bullied and accused by those who are so prideful they feel no remorse in belittling another human being. Or, worse yet, accused by someone so scared they are about to lose power and control over their circle of influence, that they used her to step on to prop themselves up.

The Accusers, The Bully

Or are you the Scribes and Pharisees?

The accusers. The head bully in the school.

The power hungry figurehead that doesn’t care who he hurts as long as his status remains intact.

Or maybe, you are just the person who has to always be right, and uses righteousness as an unjust shield, withering the people around you along the way.

Jesus

Perhaps you are Jesus. Oh, how I hope you are Jesus.

He used one sentence that flipped the script to make them walk away. That’s all it took.

Just one voice among many that was willing to row in the other direction. Someone who saw another human being treated poorly, whether justified or not, and took a stand.

There was no lofty sermon. There was no accusing the accusers. He didn’t even address their wrongdoing directly. He just spoke a truth that they couldn’t refute.

The Crowd

But what about the crowd? Are you a person in the crowd?

Potentially hundreds of people were witnesses that day. None of them spoke for her. None.

You could argue that it wouldn’t have been culturally acceptable. That Jesus had it covered. That it wasn’t their place to butt in. The she was, after all, an adulteress.

But if you were the woman, being paraded and shamed before the most important people in your city, wouldn’t you have hoped at least one person would speak up?

What Person Will You Be?

So often we are silent bystanders to situations we know aren’t right. And I’m not referring to some huge societal injustice or issue on the ballot.

I’m talking about watching the bully on the playground and doing nothing to help the boy shrinking into himself. Losing his self-esteem one jab at a time.

Or the big sister that relentlessly picks on her younger brothers, making them feel worthless.

Or the friend who gossips about your other friends without regard for their dignity.

The dad who uses sarcasm to belittle his kids under the guise of it being a joke.

Basic stuff. So basic.

And yet, how often are you a person in the crowd staying silent?

Maybe, over your lifetime, you’ve been every person.

• The accused, being picked on and bullied.
• The accuser, propping yourself up at the expense of another.
• The crowd, a silent bystander when you could have been an advocate for what’s right.
• Jesus, the person willing to be different. To be kind and compassionate. Using truth as your weapon instead of the same tools of satan that the accusers use.

You see, we have a choice to make as to who we are going to be for the accused.

The Weapons to Wield To Be Jesus

It might cost you something to take a stand. You also might not know how to stand.

That’s ok. If you are a Christian, then you already have everything you need to be Jesus.

The Holy Spirit gives us our weapons against evil: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

These are our weapons against the accusers.

Speak the truth without anger, malice, hatred, fits of rage, selfish ambition, or dissension. Those are the tools of the devil and you’ll never win a battle fighting with his weapons.

Don’t ignore the little things you see happening around you when you could be the voice that rows the other direction. And teach your kids how to recognize situations that call for them too, to stand for the accused.

Too often little things become big things over time in a person’s life.

Be Jesus for them, and say, “Neither do I condemn you.”

Sometimes one voice is all it takes to change a person’s life.

~Sarah