33. JESUS AND THE WOMAN
ACCUSED OF ADULTERY
Jn. 8:1-11
Priscilla Singh
Introduction:
Violence against women assumes many forms,
some overt and some subtle. The story of the woman accused of
adultery is a fine example not only of how women are humiliated and
punished, but also of how women are objectivised and abused by those in
power to further their own ends. In this instance, the woman
accused is to serve as a bait to trap Jesus, so that either he condemns
the Law of Moses or condones the sin of the woman. Either way, he
could be caught, and removed from being a stumbling block to their
comfortable lives, so thought the cunning teachers of the Law and the
Pharisees!
This well known Jesus story is told and retold in the life of the
church, but its sexual and canonical status is up for debate. In
many ways, it is a story... to be read on its own terms without
sustained reference to its larger literary context.
Popular interpretation of this text is as follows:
"It is a judgement against the woman. In the
most prevalent reading of this text, which can be traced back to
Augustine, Jesus is the embodiment of grace and the woman is the
embodiment of sin. This narrow polarity between Jesus and the
woman distorts the text." It reinforces the already existing
notion that women are sinful creatures, temptresses, and cause of all
that is sinful; but for the benevolence of Jesus, women like her would
be fit only for condemnation. The text needs to be liberated from
this narrow interpretation, just as do women who are regularly being
judged by men as well as by women.
Concept of Adultery:
The concept of what is considered as “adultery”
needs to be studied within the Biblical context to fully understand its
implications in this particular passage. It is one of the 10
Commandments "You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14). Joseph
exclaims that it is a wicked thing and a sin against God (Gen.
39:9). Deut. 22:22-24 says;
If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who
slept with her and the woman must die. If a man happens to meet
in a town, a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you
shall take both of them to the gate of the town and stone them to death.
In Numbers 5:11-31, if a woman is suspected of
adultery by her husband but without any proof to justify it or if he
just happens to be unduly suspicious of her character, he can take her
to the priest, to be subjected to the test of grain offering of
jealousy and a reminder offering. This is to draw attention to
the guilt of which she is suspected. If she has actually been
adulterous, the curse will enter her bowels and make her womb discharge
and her uterus drop (22, 27). If she is innocents there is no
punishment to the husband for falsely accusing her. This law of
jealousy is initiated by her husband and does not involve her being
stoned to death.
"In Hebrew society, polygamy was legally recognized,
the husband could take a concubine and divorce was a male
prerogative. Whereas a woman's sexual misconduct was severely
punished, infidelity on the part of the man is penalized only if he
violated the rights of another man."
Against these stipulations, let us see how Jesus,
who is our touch stone, has interpreted adultery. In Mt. 5:28 he
remarks, "Any one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart," and in Mt. 5:32, "Any one who divorces
his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an
adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits
adultery."
Concept of Sin
Often there is a tendency to grade sins according to
the degree of importance that we give to them. The worst sin next
to murder is considered to be sexual sin. Therefore, the woman
should be punished. But the accusers, in their anxiety to
convict, have forgotten that they are as much to be convicted as she
is. There must have been men in the crowd ogling at the half
naked woman, committing adultery in their hearts with their lustful
eyes. There must have been sadists who enjoy watching a woman in
agony while she is being stoned to death. Even those who have
enjoyed sexual pleasure with her must have been among her
accusers. The leaders themselves exhibit only a "pretend zeal for
the Law."
The woman has sinned but so also have the
others. "The scribes and the Pharisees have sinned too, but their
sin is the sin of self-righteousness. Perhaps hunger, loneliness
and either her physical need or the emotional need to be loved drove
her to commit adultery." But the Pharisees are not only driven by
self righteousness but also by their determination to trap an innocent
man and to safe-guard their self-interests. Theirs is a sin that
can also be categorized as a `corporate sin' because of their united
effort to denounce the woman and Jesus.
The Motive and the Method:
The woman who is `caught in the very act' (v. 3) is
brought to Jesus:
- not because she is a virgin who is pledged to be
married, in which case the man who has slept with her also has to be
judged and stoned to death (Duet. 22:23);
- not as a woman who is suspected of infidelity by
her husband who can not find any proof. In that case, at least
her husband will be there to accuse her and she will have to pass the
test administered by the priest (Num. 5);
- but as a woman set up as a bait to trap another man
(Jesus) who is countering the powerful.
Patriarchal System and the Issue of Adultery:
Much is talked about the patriarchal system that
lets the man involved in adultery go scot free. "A bias does
exist against any woman who committed a sexual sin and just as today,
men are regarded less critically for sexual sins. For example,
Egyptian law states that a man who is caught with a prostitute is not
imprisoned, instead, his testimony is used to convict and imprison the
prostitute."
Men are conditioned by our system not to feel
guilty, but to put the blame on women just like Adam does! Men
are allowed to sow their wild oats and their affairs are brushed aside,
`men will be men.' Similarly, “the commandment against adultery
is directed at the Jewish male. He must not commit adultery with
the neighbor's wife, who is the neighbor's property.” If he
has sex with a woman engaged to another man against her will, then he
alone should be stoned. Otherwise, he must pay only some
compensation to her man, for `damaging his property' or to the girl's
father, for making a harlot of her (Duet. 22:22-30).
This does not mean that men alone are to be
blamed. We all are part of this unjust system, both men and women.
But the reason the man who is also involved has
escaped the public condemnation may have been because he has not
violated the property rights of any man by sleeping with her. The
only way this can be possible is if she has not belonged to any man and
therefore is an easy prey, as a single woman, to the manipulations of
men who abused her vulnerability. This thought needs to be
further explored by us! Many single women do experience such
trauma even today.
The way the woman, who is caught, is publicly
paraded in the temple courts where Jesus is preaching, brings to our
minds the several instances in India where women are still paraded semi
naked or totally naked for various reasons. It may be:
a. To publicly humiliate the woman;
b. To teach women not to cross the lines or barriers
set before them by culture, caste, religion, and
tradition;
c. To punish women who have dared to confront the
powers that be with some revolutionary thinking or
action that threatens the status quo of the
community;
d. To punish and humiliate their menfolk because men
still consider women to be their possessions.
The event that unfolded after the accusation has
also been interpreted in various ways. It is important to note
that Jesus neither looks at the woman who is the accused, nor at the
men who accuse her, but stoops down to write on the ground. What
is it? May be just a doodle while waiting for the ominous silence
to provoke feelings of guilt, and to convict those who are anxiously
waiting for some excitement from another's misfortune. Then he
speaks, "Let the one without sin cast the first stone" (v. 7).
I think Jesus, by uttering this sentence, brings to
light the unfairness of the system that condemns women and condones
men. He must have been aware of the pain the woman was going
through, defenseless and dumb, shamed and ogled at, numb with fear and
remorse, helpless and utterly lonely. She had no one to hear her
side of the story before passing judgement on her, none to defend or
rescue her. Nobody knows what or who forced her into such a
life. Did she resort to this type of life to earn a living?
Was she seeking a sense of belonging to some man? Or, was she in
love with the man? Therefore, the judgement of stoning to death
without hearing her explanation would have been an unjust trial, but
for the intervention of the Savior Jesus.
The Message for Us:
"For nineteen centuries, Christendom has resounded
with sermons on the admonition, `Go and sin no more.' Rarely have
sermons or ethical teachings been based on Jesus' first judgement,
`Neither do I condemn you.'"
This one sentence is so loaded with meaning, so
liberating and so empowering that it is worth listening to some
different possible interpretations.
a. Jesus statement involves a second chance.
Jesus is always intensely interested in what a
person has been, but also in what a person can be.
b. It includes a challenge `sin no more.'
c. It is not a formal acquittal.
d. It is a refusal to judge. Jesus alone is
entitled to condemn as the one without sin and he
does not condemn. But neither does he condone."
Women are still judged in the following ways:
a. Seen as only of secondary importance, with no
dignity and self respect;
b. Viewed primarily for reproduction, nurturing, and
for male sexual gratification;
c. Judged to be weak in mind and body and therefore
needing a male to decide for them;
d. Punished and humiliated publicly when they stray
from traditional, societal and religio- cultural
norms.
The woman stood with Jesus, simply waiting.
Women who are in similar situations, not only need to be pardoned by
the all embracing love of Jesus but also to be shown the solidarity
that he has shown. Jesus paid attention to the lonely and
marginalised woman, talked to her. He gave her the much needed
non judgmental remark, for he did not condemn her. She is to "go
and sin no more." It is a positive push in the right direction.
This is the empowerment women need to hear, a fair
deal women are worthy of and understanding. There must be a
negation of the patriarchal values that treat most women only as sex
objects, as men's possessions, as pawns in the games people in power
play, as powerless victims waiting for men to decide their fate.
Men, as well as women, are victims of patriarchy and they need
liberation from the traditional interpretation of the scriptures which
have prescribed for thousands of years what women shall do and how they
shall behave. These traditional interpretations prevent men and
women from seeing that they are both made in the image of God with
equal privileges and responsibilities. We need the eyes and the
compassion of the liberating Jesus, a new way of looking at issues with
insight and fairness, that frees women, and allows them the space,
trust and freedom to start life afresh with hope and faith.
In Jesus' words, "If any one of you is without sin,
let him be the first to throw a stone at her," we hear an
imperative call for social accountability, a call we need to remember!
Reflection:
In countries like India, where the legal system is
pro-women only on paper, we hear of raids where commercial sex workers
in hotels and brothels are rounded up for prosecution, whereas the men
who are caught with them are allowed to go scot free! There has
always been a double standard while judging men and women for the same
sin, a product of the patriarchal system, that exists to this day.
We still have remnants of the Devadasi system that
offers unattached sexual services to the rich and powerful man.
Furthermore, this practice has religious sanction! A few
countries bank on the revenue brought through sex tourism to boost
their economy but still deny dignity and security to those women.
No world organization penalizes or ostracizes such governments.
Capitalism and the market economy target women's bodies to increase
their trade and revenue. No one thinks much of condemning such
practices. On the other hand, Islamic countries go to the other
extreme of curtailing women's mobility and opportunities in order to
reduce the evil existing in capitalist and free societies! Male
prostitution has also come to stay but remains an unexposed evil.
With all these flaws and unfairness in our system, it is an injustice
to think that only women are the cause of sin!
Therefore, we need to set new parameters before we
sit in judgement on any individual man or woman who may be caught in
the vortex of a rapidly changing world context. We need to call
for societal accountability before we hold anyone for personal
accountability. We need to develop the objectivity that Jesus
showed to discern justice in the context of the accusers and the
accused. This will not only pave the way towards rebuilding a
broken and distorted life, but also toward building a “New Community a
Living Community,” that Jesus came to inaugurate! This
would be made possible if we, women and men, work together collectively
with the mind of Christ.
Questions for Discussion:
1. After doing this Bible Study, what is your
understanding of sin?
2. Discuss the emotional and physical state of the
woman, and any parallels to this incident in
your own place.
3. What situations cause women to lead such a life?
4. In what diverse ways are women objectified and
abused?
5. What is the feeling of power in being part of a
crowd?
Endnotes:
1. Carol L. Newsom and Sharon Ringe, eds.
The Women’s Bible Commentary, Louisville: The
Westminster/John Knox, 1992, p. 297.
2. Ibid.
3. Letty M. Russell, The Liberating Word,
Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976, p. 45.
4. Edith Deen, All of the Women of the
Bible, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1955,
p. 373.
5. Eugenia Price, The Unique World of
Women, p. 152.
6. Ibid.
7. Rachel Conrad Walhberg, According to a
Woman, p. 24.
8. Ibid.
9. William Barclay, Gospel of John Vol.
II, Edinburgh: St. Andrews Press, 1956.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barclay, William, Gospel of John Vol. II, Edinburgh:
St. Andrews Press, 1956.
Deen, Edith, All of the Women of the Bible, San
Francisco: Harper & Row, 1955.
Newsom, Carol and Sharon Ringe, eds. The Women’s Bible
Commentary, Louisville: The
Westminster/John Knox, 1992.
Price, Eugenia, The Unique World of Women.
Russell, Letty M., The Liberating Word, Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, 1976.
Walhberg, Rachel Conrad, According to a Woman.