Thank God for Women, But… (Part 9)

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

Just as a reminder: when Jesus walked in His earthly ministry,  He was the living word who only did what the Father showed Him and only spoke what the Father told Him.

Now, with our memories refreshed, let’s look at a New Testament incident which we have heard over and over again.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” (John 8: 3-5)

Jesus was sitting in one of the Temple’s courts, teaching a large crowd of people. Maybe, He was explaining His “rivers of living waters” statement which had recently caused a controversy among the Jews.

But as He taught, a commotion interrupted His teaching. A crowd of men, scribes and Pharisees, dragged a women into the center of the court, and then these men pointed out her sin of adultery to Jesus.

The scribes were not really a religious sect like the Pharisees, but were professionals who copied the Law onto scrolls. The scribe’s work was tedious and demanding, but because of their total involvement with the Old Covenant, the scribes knew the Law and were also teachers of it.

As for the Pharisees, this sect of six thousand men memorized the whole Law. They devoted their lives to following the Law’s dictates and calling Israel back to a strict observance of the Law.

And usually, the scribes and the Pharisees agreed with each other.

But the Pharisees had a problem: lust. And since, the Law elevated men to leadership positions in the Temple and to a higher place of worship in the Temple and also used male circumcision as an Old Covenant sign, the Pharisees figured that men were preferred by God and much closer to God than women were.

Thus, the Pharisees blamed women for their problems with lust and also for the sins of fornication and adultery.

So, now we can understand why only the woman stood in the center of the court, guilty of adultery. The man, who was the woman’s lover and also caught at the same time as the woman, was given a pass by the scribes and Pharisees.

After all, it was the woman’s fault, and not the man’s fault.

Jesus did not buy into the logic of the scribes and Pharisees.  Instead, He eventually said:

He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw  a stone at her. (John 8: 7)

Who knows? Maybe, each of the male scribes and Pharisees wished he had been in bed with this woman rather than her lover.  And maybe, this particular woman was one that each of these men lusted for.

As we all know, the male scribes and Pharisees exited the court and left the woman alone with Jesus. Then the Lord admonished her not to commit adultery again.

Now, this incident was trumpeted by the crowd who witnessed the whole episode throughout Jerusalem and Judah. You can easily imagine what the people said, “Jesus actually cares about women and sees them as having standing before God.”

Now, why did the Father do this?

(Continued in Part 10)