The Man Not Caught in Adultery

Spare a thought for the man not caught in adultery. It’s certainly a horrendous suggestion. It is natural in our day and age to consider the lack of gender justice in the famous story in John 8 where Jesus saves the life, both the body and the soul, of the a woman who was caught in adultery and brought to him to judge. But I think we need to start thinking about what is happening for the man.

The Pharisees tried to set Jesus up. He couldn’t overlook the sin and still be just. He couldn’t overlook the life of the woman and still be loving. Instead, full of compassion and wisdom, Jesus offered those in the crowd a choice. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Those who were ready to condemn and stone the woman walked away and the woman was forgiven, given a new life by Jesus.

Many of us have wondered and commented on why the woman was brought to be condemned but the man wasn’t. It certainly reflects the culture at the time, and possibly reflects a little better on our time that we actually consider the question. The man was not brought to be publicly shamed, condemned and possibly stoned to death. The man was left – to live – but in shame, secret and darkness.

At the end of that particular day we know that the woman had met Jesus. She had been shown incredible and personal compassion by God Himself. She had been saved and literally given a new life. The man, his sin covered up by other men, whose life was not in danger that day, was still in this old life of secret sin and shame. He was bound to continue in a life of selfish cravings and temporal pleasures – empty of joy; full of bitterness.

What the Pharisees meant for evil, Jesus turned to good. The woman was saved. The Pharisees, nodding to the man’s indiscretion, ironically left him in condemnation.

The hundreds of thousands of those forced into a life of prostitution are much closer to God’s Kingdom than the men who force themselves on them. Globally, thanks to the courageous work of activists, law makers and communicators, the tide is slowly turning and many women and children are being rescued out of or protected from prostitution. But what about the men? What about the men who will sneak away in darkness only to return again?

These men, of course, do not deserve compassion, mercy, freedom or salvation. They are routinely doing something that they know must be wrong. And there is another group, like the Pharisees in the story, who reinforce the sin if the men and perpetually bring women and children to be stoned to death, as they are slowly killed in their brothels from disease and pain. It’s hard to imagine any grace for them.

The Man not caught in adultery is still caught in a life of sexual sin. His life is caught in a cycle where he has given himself over to lust and he keeps returning to commit violence on the weak. In a different way to the prostitute, this man is also a slave to sex. He is bound in his guilt. His mind and his body are instruments of darkness. As a paying client, his privilege is protected but indeed he is also being used. His soul, kept in the darkness, is beyond redemption.

Who can save such a man? Who could forgive his sin? Who would have the compassion? Who would have such grace? Who would have the wisdom?

Jesus. Just the same way He saves us. We didn’t deserve it either.