John 8:3-11
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught
in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher,
this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you
say?"
They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis
for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground
with his finger.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to
them, "If any one of you is and said to them, "If any one of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down
and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older
ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,"
Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Jesus does not condemn the woman and in the process portrays the Jews
who were trying to follow God's law as hypocrites. According to Christians
who claim they want to serve the Lord with all their hearts this is a wonderful
lesson on forgiveness which shows Jesus taking the high moral ground of
compassion.
But is this really a fine moral lesson? Is this really an example of
serving God and following his commands and laws?
The law on adultery being referred to here is Deut 22:22 and Lev 20:10 which state:
Deut 22:22
If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man
who slept with her and the woman MUST DIE die. You MUST purge the evil
from Israel.
Lev 20:10
If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife
of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to deatress
must be put to death.
This isn't a trap by the teachers of the law but a test to see if Jesus was really sent from God as he claimed to be. If Jesus was indeed sent directly from God then Jesus would follow and affirm God's laws. God gave very clear instructions about his laws:
Deut 26:16
The LORD your God COMMANDS you this day to follow these decrees
and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your
soul.
All God's laws are also perfect(Psa 19:7) and eternal(Psa 119:160).
Several points need to be made here:
So we have Jesus demonstrating that he makes exceptions to the laws
his alleged Father gave. This is the same Jesus who claimed he was sent
directly from God and who admonished the Jews for doubting that he came
from God:
John 8:28
So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you
will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my
own but speak just what the Father has taught me."
Well now, isn't it interesting that Jesus claims that he does nothing on his own but speaks what God the Father taught him. Either Jesus is lying through his teeth or his alleged Father is NOT the same God who gave the Israelites their laws. Jesus went even further by saying:
Matt 5:17-20
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but
whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter
the kingdom of heaven.
Who does Jesus think he's kidding? You don't fulfill the law by ignoring it. He deliberately circumvented the law by excusing the woman who committed adultery from her crime and simply told her in effect to leave and not do it again. The real hypocrite here is Jesus. He claims to be taught by God, sent by God, claims to "fulfill" the law, and warns people not to break any of God's commandments. Then Jesus has the unabashed arrogance to mock the Jews who question his credibility:
John 8:23-24
But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are
of this world; I am not of this world.
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe
that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."
Jesus then continues his arrogant rebuke of the Jews and boasts about himself in the process:
John 8:54-55
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My
Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would
be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word."
What a liar!!! No wonder the devoted Jews rejected this crackpot con man.
The problem that this obviously hypocritical Jesus poses for Christianity is immense. If Jesus is not just a man but also God himself, being one third of the mystical Trinity which mainstream Christianity declares, then God the Son and God the Father are locked in a contradiction of massive proportions.
Case in point:
Exo 31:15
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is is to be
done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.
Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
Anyone who does any work on the Sabbath MUST be put to death. The violation of this law and it's consequences are illustrated below:
Num 15:32-36
While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering
wood on the Sabbath day.
Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron
and the whole assembly,
and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should
be done to him.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly
must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the
camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.
God required that a man who was found gathering sticks(or wood) on the Sabbath be put to death by being stoned by the whole assembly. However, let's not forget that according to mainstream Christianity Jesus IS God. Well now, where was Jesus when this man was executed for picking up sticks? Picking up sticks on a holy day is certainly not any more serious a violation of God's lawolation of God's law than committing adultery. So where was Jesus to step in and say the following:
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone."
Jesus can't use the excuse that he wasn't around at that time because he already declared to the Jews that he existed before Abraham was born:
John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born,
I am!"
The New Testament sinks further into the quagmire by declaring that Jesus not only existed before Abraham but has always been the same. In other words, Jesus is unchanging.
Heb 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
So here we have Jesus who is supposed to be God, and who has existed long before Abraham was born, letting a man be stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. This same Jesus then allows a woman to circumvent the law and escape the same fate hundreds of years later. This is the same Jesus who declared that the law should always be followed to the letter. This is the same Jesus(the God) who declared he was taught the law by God the Father and both these Gods are supposed to be the same God the Jews worship.
If Jesus has always existed, has always been the same, and is also God, then this deity is psychotic. He issues laws that he ignores, commands people to obey these laws, rebukes them for trying to follow the laws, and practices situational ethics. Further compounding the equation is the utterly absurd claim in the Bible that God doesn't show favoritism.
Rom 2:11
For God does not show favoritism.
Acts 10:34
Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God
does not
show favoritism."
God doesn't show favoritism? Hello??? Anybody home???
The sheer theological lunacy that these contradictions and problems produce stand as testimony to the bankrupt nature of this belief system which claims to be consistent throughout and which Christians claim represents the infallible word of an all powerful holy deity.