Theonomy and
the Woman Caught in Adultery
(John 8:1-11)

John 8
1   Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2   And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them.
3   And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4   They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5   Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?
6   This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not.
7   So when they continued asking Him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8   And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9   And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10   When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11   She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

This passage (John 8) is frequently misunderstood. The command in Scripture is against one participating in an execution if he himself was complicit in that same crime. God's Law never required absolute sinlessness on the part of the people before they could execute a rapist or murderer. Only that they not be a part of that same crime.

In John 8, the religious leaders of Jesus' day -- who Jesus says were the most evil people in history (Matthew 23:35) -- brought an adulteress before Jesus. These men claimed to be the great "defenders" of God's Law, and they claim to be so very concerned about the details of the law, and outraged that they caught a woman in the very act of adultery, so they bring the woman before Jesus to see if Jesus is as passionate a defender of the Law as they are.

The Law of God commanded that BOTH the man and the woman be punished (Leviticus 20:10). Yet the man is not there. WITH WHOM was the woman caught in adultery -- "in the very act?" Why is the other party not here as well?

We can tell already that this whole thing is a fraud and a set-up.

Jesus frequently accused the religious leaders of being "adulterous" (e.g., Mark 8:38), and as they one-by-one slithered away like snakes, leaving only the woman, it became clear that these men were probably the ones who committed adultery with her. Thus the woman could not be stoned under Old Testament law, because there were no qualified witnesses to testify against her (an absolute requirement under the law) (Deut 17:7).

Thus the woman could not have been convicted of the crime of adultery under Old Testament law, so it is no wonder that Jesus did not advocate her stoning. Jesus kept the OT law perfectly.