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Humble Hero
accuse Him. If He would acquit the woman, they could charge Him
with despising the law of Moses. If He would declare her worthy
of death, they could accuse Him to the Romans as having assumed
authority that belonged only to Rome.
Jesus looked on the scene—the trembling victim in her shame,
the hard-faced dignitaries devoid of pity. He read the heart and knew
the character and life history of every one. Giving no indication that
He had heard their question, He stooped and began to write in the
dust.
The accusers drew nearer, impatient with His delay and apparent
indifference. But as their eyes fell on the pavement at His feet, their
faces changed. There, written before them, were the guilty secrets
of their own lives. The people saw the sudden change of expression
and pressed forward to discover what it was they were looking at
with such astonishment and shame.
With all their claims to reverence the law, these rabbis were
disregarding its provisions. It was the husband’s duty to take ac-
tion against the woman, and the guilty parties were to be punished
equally. The action of these accusers was unauthorized. Jesus, how-
ever, met them on their own ground. The law specified that the
witnesses in the case should be the first to cast a stone. Standing up
and looking intently at the plotting elders, Jesus said, “He who is
without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And then
He continued writing on the ground.
Now the accusers were defeated, with their robe of pretended
holiness torn from them. They stood guilty and condemned in the
presence of Infinite Purity. One by one, with bowed heads and
downcast eyes, they slipped away, leaving their victim with the
pitying Savior.
Jesus got up again, looked at the woman, and said,” ‘Woman,
where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She
said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn
you; go and sin no more.’”
The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear. His
words, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at
her first,” had come to her as a death sentence. Silently she awaited
her doom. In astonishment she saw her accusers leave speechless
and confused. Then those words of hope fell on her ear, “Neither do