2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 4 "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, 'No one, Lord," And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again." John 8:2-11
This Gospel account gets right to the heart of Christ's teaching. So does Polenov's enormous painting, filling an entire wall and dwarfing the museum viewers who come to see it. It is the greatest of Polenov's Life of Christ Cycle. He titled the picture, "Who among you is without sin." But the censors wouldn't approve that title (maybe they felt it hit too close to home) and so they re-named it, "The Woman Caught in Adultery." Better to keep Christ's laser focus on someone else, especially a woman. Some people will go to any lengths to protect their authority. Imagine, forbidding a painter to name his own painting!
Verse 2: Vasily knows this event took place in the early morning. See the full shadow of the cypress tree against the temple wall. That's an early morning shadow. The crowd of people who are interested in Jesus and what he has to say have followed. They are seated to the left. St. John tells us Jesus sat down. Sitting is the teacher's posture. But the heart of his teaching will flesh-out in the conversation with the religious officials and the woman. Effective teachers demonstrate, "This is how it's done."
Verse 3,4: "Placing her in the midst." They treat the woman like she's a thing. Maybe we remember a teacher making an example of another student, or a movie scene in which the town's people drag someone (often a woman) into the square to teach everyone a lesson. In Polenov's painting, we see the poor frightened girl (maybe this is her profession) caught in a great display of power — the furious men seeming to drag and push her at the same time. They've got their fists and weapons in the air, like the January 6 storming of the capitol. All this dust up makes me wonder, what's really going on here? Do these men really care about what Moses taught? And Polenov has the rocks the men will need strewn all across the ground. In our social media world, words are the new ammunition strewn everywhere.
Verse 5,6: "to test him...to bring a charge against him." These men want Jesus to fail their exam. This reminds me of the reporters asking Pope Francis about gay people on the flight back from his first trip. They asked a question they hoped would be good for the next news cycle. Stir the pot; get the world talking about the new pope. Maybe ask the investigative question that might garner a promotion or bonus. I'd suggest we see just how deeply despised Jesus is by looking ahead to verse 48 where the confrontation with Jesus continues, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" This is perhaps the nastiest thing they can say to Jesus — "You're a Samaritan." And to be a Samaritan is to have demon. There's a kind of hyper-religious person who loves to tell others they disagree with or disapprove of, "You're in league with the devil." It's the ultimate power grab.
Notice these men quote Moses, "Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such." More power! People still do this — quoting high, higher, highest authorities. They quote bible verses, documents, books and "the tradition" to authenticate themselves. Jesus in unimpressed. He knows what they are up to and doodles on the ground. An extra-biblical gospel account tells us that Jesus was writing their sins in the dust. Look at the painting — see the dividing line of light and shadow between Jesus and the lead spokesman who even appears to be pointing to that line on the ground. As if to say, "The way you answer our question, Jesus, determines whether we're at the point of our going separate ways. And Jesus fails their test because he reveals that forgiveness, compassion and understanding are the path to God. Notice the scene takes place outside the temple. Again, the religious-spiritual way isn't tucked away safely in the pews, but is outside, where everyday life happens.
Verse 7: "Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." We often see other people as the problem: the baby in the womb, the divorced, the ones who live together the wrong way, the Jews, the Muslims, the black and brown people, "them." Every nationality that comes to this country has to pass through the gauntlet of hate. With new ferocity, these days it's the Asians. But Jesus knows how we are, and cuts through the nonsense, drawing them out: "Go ahead and kill her if you're not guilty in some way yourself." Some shred of self-awareness must have remained in them; they dropped their ammo and walked away silently. No apology, of course.
The Gospel account is only 9 verses, but it's huge. So is Polenov's painting. Could I invite us to return here tomorrow, when we can pick it up again.
