This is a very famous anecdote of the life of Jesus. It was one of the few backstory anecdotes that made it into Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ. However, the account comes through early manuscript discrepancies. Wikipedia provides some interesting reading on the various early manuscripts of the early versions of the Gospel of John.
It is powerful story. So powerful, it almost did not make it into the Bible.
Jesus is still at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He is making claims about himself, which angers the Pharisees. The Pharisees are dividing with at least one dissenter (Nicodemus) standing up for Jesus. The others seem to unanimously want to kill Jesus.
So, they lay a trap for him.
They bring to Jesus a woman accused of adultery. There seems to be no dispute that she actually is guilty of adultery. According to Mosaic law, this is punishable by death. There is no dispute about this, which would be said about the capital punishment for breaking the Sabbath.
What will Jesus do? Does not Jesus know Mosaic law?
Jesus does not deny that she is guilty. Nor does he deny that Mosaic law imposes this penalty. Rather, Jesus writes on the ground with his finder, but the text is silent as to what he wrote. Then Jesus says "let him without sin throw the first stone".
Based on this context, perhaps Jesus wrote on the ground the sins of the accusers, perhaps even the names of the people that they committed adultery with. However, this is all supposition. It also should be mentioned that being righteous was not a prerequisite for carrying out punishment under Mosaic law. So, Jesus' response is outside the Mosaic law. That said, the response seems to highlights the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
The accusers start leaving, beginning with the elders. Finally, they all leave and Jesus is alone with the woman.
Jesus: Where are your accusers? No one condemns you?
Woman: No one, sir.
Jesus: Neither do I. Go and sin no more.
There probably are many interpretations and applications of the last dialogue. I think it stands for grace and love of Jesus. Jesus does not condemn us. Jesus knew that he was approaching the time at which the sins of the woman and her accusers would be paid by him. Despite this, Jesus does not condemn her, but just wants her to stop sinning.
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