A set up?

"The scribes & Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' They said this to test him, so they might have some charge to bring against him."

(John 8:3-6)

Sex stories. Everybody loves them. Whether we admit openly or not, we're all drawn to stories that deal with it (side note: this is partly due to how we're wired as humans. We're created by God as sexual beings!). Even in the Bible.

There's an interesting story in John, chapter 8. Jesus is teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem early one morning, when religious leaders bring to him a woman "caught in adultery." They asked Jesus about her punishment. The Hebrew law says death by stoning. What are Jesus' thoughts? How could anyone feel the woman doesn't deserve the full punishment of the law?

Well... here's the thing.

The law did prescribe death by stoning for adultery (though its practice had actually stopped by the time of Jesus)... however, it was for BOTH the man and the woman who committed the act together. IN fact, when the religious leaders present this particular woman to Jesus, they say she was caught "in the very act of committing adultery."

So... two questions:

1) Where was the guy... especially if they caught them "in the very act."

2) Were they being voyeurs in someone's boudoir... or was this a set-up all along (I'm pretty sure it wasn't somewhere out in the open!).

Considering the fact that they let the guy get away scot-free, I'm guessing it's the latter.

(And then third, we need to notice that they really didn't care about the woman or morality because the narrator tells us that "they said this to test Jesus, so they might have some charge to bring against him.")

In the end, Jesus saw through their ruse. He did not condemn the woman, and her accusers all left without bloodshed. But it leaves us with a number of insights... not the least of which is BE CAREFUL OF RUSHING TO JUDGMENT. W don't know the full story - even when it's plastered all over the news, the internet, and the tabloids. It could be a set up! Instead, take Jesus' stand: offer love and grace and don't condemn. Who knows, I bet this woman's life was radically changed after that encounter with Jesus!