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Among Snares
277
They had seized this opportunity to secure His condemnation,
thinking that whatever decision He might make, they would find
occasion to accuse Him. Should He acquit the woman, He might
be charged with despising the law of Moses. Should He declare her
worthy of death, He could be accused to the Romans as assuming
authority that belonged only to them.
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 sign that He
had heard their question, He stooped and began to write in the dust.
[311]
Impatient at His delay and apparent indifference, the accusers
drew nearer. But as their eyes fell on the pavement at His feet, their
countenances changed. There, traced 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
regarding with such astonishment and shame.
With all their professions of reverence for the law, these rabbis
were disregarding its provisions. It was the husband’s duty to take
action against the woman; and the guilty parties were to be pun-
ished equally. The action of the accusers was unauthorized. Jesus,
however, met them on their own ground. The law specified that the
witnesses in the case should be the first to cast a stone. Now rising
and fixing His eyes on the plotting elders, Jesus said, “He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” And He
continued writing on the ground.
Now the accusers, defeated, their robe of pretended holiness torn
from them, stood guilty and condemned in the presence of Infinite
Purity. One by one, with bowed heads and downcast eyes, they stole
away, leaving their victim with the pitying Saviour.
Jesus arose, and looking at the woman said, “Woman, where are
those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No
man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go,
and sin no more.”
The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear. His
words, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,”
had come to her as a death sentence. Silently she awaited her doom.
In astonishment she saw her accusers depart speechless and con-
founded; then those words of hope fell on her ear, “Neither do I