John 8:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Struck by the voice of justice as by an arrow, they questioned themselves, found themselves guilty, and went away one by one.

This was certainly the voice of justice. By this justice they were struck as by a dart. Looking within themselves and seeing themselves guilty, they all began to go away one by one.

But when we say this to them, they not only refuse to soften their severity, but become angry at the truth and answer: "But we are men!

"Will the dignity of our sex endure such injustice, that if we allow ourselves something with other women besides our wives, we must pay penalties equally with women?"

And because the accusers fled, for the most merciful Judge gave them time to withdraw in their shame, He again bent down and wrote on the ground.

“But when they heard it, and were convicted by conscience, they began to depart one by one, beginning with the elders.” Was it because those who have lived long have more sins? Or was it because they, being wiser, were the first to understand the force of the judgment? Having come as accusers of another’s crime, they turned instead to mourning over their own sins.

“But when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, they went out one by one, beginning with the elders even to the last,” because no one could say of himself that he was sinless.

Nevertheless, on the next day the Lord again came into the temple. There, in one of the porches, He again wished to turn the whole attention of the people to Himself.

After resolving the question of the sinful woman brought to Him, He cried aloud to the people: “I am the light of the world. He who comes to Me shall not walk in darkness.”

This was, as it were, an encouragement for everyone constrained by the decree of the Sanhedrin to leave that dark assembly, without fear of perishing.

The light of the nations, which Israel had been until then, was darkened. A new sun was rising for the sons of Israel who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and also for the Gentiles.

Jesus Christ spent the night after the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles on the Mount of Olives. The next morning He came again into the temple.

All the people, who had not yet dispersed to their homes after the feast, hastened to gather around Him. Jesus Christ sat down and began to teach.

At that time the scribes, experts in the law, and the Pharisees, strict zealots for legal righteousness, brought to Him a woman taken in adultery. She was either a married woman or a betrothed woman (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:23-24).

Testing Him, they asked, “Moses in the law commanded that such should be stoned. What do You say?” Such a law concerning adulterers and adulteresses had indeed been given by Moses, as was said above.

The words of Jesus made a shattering impression on everyone. Like an arrow, they pierced the hardened conscience of the scribes and Pharisees and forced them to remember their sins.

They stood in silence. Their hands fell; their eyes were cast down. Perhaps for the first time they felt shame. Convicted by conscience, they quietly began to leave one by one, until all had disappeared.

Apparently the people also followed them. According to the Evangelist, Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing in the midst.

The scribes and Pharisees who brought the sinner into the temple to Jesus had no right to judge her. Nor could they sentence her to the punishment established in Roman law, for they were not judges and did not constitute a court as a state institution.

Christ, avoiding legalistic discussions about the guilty woman, brought the accusers themselves before the judgment of their own conscience. They did not endure this judgment. Their awakened conscience revealed to them their own guilt, which deprived them of every right to condemn their neighbor. And so, confused and ashamed, they departed silently from the temple, one after another, leaving the woman alone with Christ.

“Being convicted by conscience”: from this it is clear that these scribes and Pharisees at that time were not distinguished by chastity of life. The Lord wisely transferred the question from the abstract and juridical sphere into the moral sphere. Thus He placed the accusers in such a position that their conscience, unclean and not free from reproach in the same sin, did not permit them to continue the conversation. Put to shame, they quietly withdrew from Christ and the woman. “From the elders even to the last” means by age and dignity. “Standing in the midst”: cf. Jn 8:3.

Having given His judgment, the Savior "again stooped down and wrote." He did not wish to disturb them by a stern look or word, but neither did He wish to permit their sinful self-justification to speak out.

His majestic silence by itself stirred the anxiety of conscience within them.

According to historical testimony, many rabbis of that time lived very impurely. Even if those now standing before Jesus were not among such men, their conscience, summoned to judgment, cried out to them of many, many sins.

The Pharisaic conscience may not have been so tender that the Teacher's reminder of sins would compel them to change their lives. Yet their pride was sensitive, and it was disturbed by the failure of their dark designs against the sinner.

The Lord compels each accuser to look into his own conscience. He must either renounce the application of the law to the accused woman, or else declare his own sinlessness.

As we see, not one of the accusers dared to do the latter, despite all their malice. The Lord transfers the law from the sphere of the letter into the moral sphere.

He shows that among men there is no one without sin, and that all need mercy. To the sinner, however, the Lord shows that for him also there is a door of salvation in the Lord’s great love.

The accusers, convicted by conscience, that guardian of the “image and likeness of God” in man, begin to leave, “beginning with the elders.”

And no one dared, because they considered within themselves and knew that they too were guilty in certain matters. Therefore they did not dare to strike her.