So what message did the Pharisees actually understand? Furthermore, the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus could forgive sins (Luke 5:21), and yet somehow they were “convicted by their own conscience” (John 8:9). However, He did not actually forgive the woman (John 8:11). He therefore had the divine right to condemn a sinner or to forgive a repentant offender. Christ, the only person who has ever been totally without sin (Hebrews 4:15), paid the price for our sins. Some may be inclined to resolve this incongruity on the basis that Christ was God, He who would pay for all sins on the cross and later stand in judgment of mankind (John 5:22 1 John 2:2). 4 It would be curious indeed if He who gave the law was now advocating that the law not be enforced. 3 Capital punishment for adultery was part of the Hebrew canon of laws at the time of Christ. He, as Jehovah, commanded that adulterers should be put to death. However, those who use the story as an example of how we should not judge others, that we should be forgiving of one another, or that Christ is against capital punishment, 2 fail to take into account the context in which the story takes place.įor example, it is important to remember that Jesus Christ gave Moses the law. As Raymond Brown has observed, “Some have used this to paint their portrait of the liberal Christ and have turned it in to a maudlin justification for indifference toward sins of the flesh.” 1 Of course, as Christ exemplifies perfect love and is the embodiment of mercy, it is tempting to use this story as an illustration of Christ’s love and mercy. The story of the woman taken in adultery is sometimes referenced as an example of the love and forgiveness of Jesus. However, when placed in its broader context, we can see the story is not one in which Christ shows indifference or contempt for the law, but rather utmost respect for it.

Abstract: The story in John 8 of the woman taken in adultery is sometimes used to argue that Jesus was lenient toward sin and that we should be too.

Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon - 2015.

Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.

Robert Cundick: A Sacred Service of Music.

Woman caught in adultery pdf