Ep. 19 - The One About A Woman Caught in Adultery [John 7:53–8:11]

Jesus bends down, writes in the dirt, and gives a shamed woman her dignity back — then does the same for her accusers.

What do you do with a story that doesn't even appear in the earliest manuscripts? In this episode of The Leader Lounge, Young Life leaders Chris and Emily Storms walk through the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53–8:11) — starting with why your Bible has that little note above it, and why the church has still treated it as canon. They unpack the trap the scribes and Pharisees set, the dignity Jesus gives the woman simply by bending down and writing in the dirt, and the dignity he gives her accusers by not looking up as they walk away. Chris and Emily wrestle with the tension of "neither do I condemn you" and "go and sin no more" — grace and truth in the same breath. A rich conversation for youth ministry leaders, parents, and anyone teaching kids how to hold both compassion and the call to holiness.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCED

• John 7:53–8:11
• Deuteronomy 22:20–24

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• Why most Bibles have a footnote above this passage — and why it's still in the canon
• Setting the scene: the temple, the feast, Nicodemus, and Jesus spending the night on the Mount of Olives
• What the scribes and Pharisees were really after — a charge against Jesus, not justice for the woman
• The detail Chris notices: they brought the woman, but conveniently left the man
• Why Jesus bending down to write in the dirt may have been an act of dignity — taking every eye off the woman
• The line that flips the room: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her"
• Insight on Jesus bending down a second time — giving dignity to the accusers as they walk away
• Why the older ones leave first — wisdom, or willingness to admit they've sinned?
• A pattern of Jesus and women: the bleeding woman, the woman at the well, and now this one
• Why Jesus asks her a question he already knows the answer to
• Holding grace and truth together: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, sin no more."
• A practical teaching tip from Chris: act it out when you tell this story to kids

FOR YOUTH LEADERS

• When you tell this story to kids, act it out — actually bend down and "write" in the dirt. It changes how the room feels the moment.
• Don't stop at "Jesus loves you." Teach the full line: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." Grace and truth belong together.
• Notice who Jesus protects in the story — not just the woman, but the accusers too. That's a powerful model for how we handle a kid's confession or a hard moment in campaigners.
• If you teach the manuscript footnote honestly, you build trust. Kids can handle the question "why is this in my Bible?" — and your honest answer makes Scripture more credible to them, not less.

NEXT WEEK ON THE LOUNGE
The feeding of the 5,000 — see you next Tuesday.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Leader Lounge Podcast. I'm your co-host, Chris Storms.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And I'm Emily.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

And today we are going to be in the book of John. And uh this is a story that if you if you get your Bible and you open it up to the book of John, chapter 8, you're probably going to notice that there is a little note in there. The note says the earliest manuscripts do not record uh John 753 to 811. So this is the story of the woman caught in adultery, um, and it's not included in the early manuscripts. So my question is, why is it in the Bible? And Emily has a really good note in her Bible that kind of explains.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yeah, this is from um the study Bible that I use. It says, This story is absent from all of the oldest manuscripts of John's gospel, but there's nothing in it contrary to sound doctrine. It seems best to view the story as something that did actually happen during Jesus' ministry, but was not originally part of what John wrote in his gospel.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Great. So it is part of the canon, it's part of the Bible, and um and it's a great story.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Alright, so John chapter 8, um, starting verse one through eleven says, They went each to their own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placed her in the midst. They said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women, so what do you say? 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, 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. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on sin no more.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

First of all, to set the scene, I haven't really noticed this before, but the the first verse, actually, it's it's chapter seven, fifty-three, verse fifty-three, is the first verse that we read, right? They each went they they went each to his own house. So I'm assuming that means everybody else, right? So the disciples or whoever, they were all going to their houses or the people in the temple. Um what's right before this?

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Um there's a feast, and Jesus is talking to the crowds about living water, and then they're all kind of divided. They're talking, some people are saying it's a prophet, some people are saying this is Christ. So it's just a big crowd and they're having conversations.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yeah, and Nicodemus is there. Verse 50. So Nicodemus, um, who had gone to Jesus, and he's kind of standing up for Jesus a little bit. So anyway, it feels like they are near the temple or at the temple, they're in Jerusalem, right? That's we do know that. And so it says that they each went to their own house. So everybody goes to their own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Apparently, he went and spent the night in the Mount of Olives. And so, you know, we've talked in the past about Jesus going off and praying and being alone and having times of solitude. It looks like that could potentially be what happened that night, that Jesus was by himself in the Mount of Olives.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

And then he goes back to the temple. That makes me think they were at the temple before. It just says he came again to the temple. And all the people came to him. So he's teaching a big crowd, and then the scribes and the Pharisees bring this woman in to the temple.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Yeah, so I picture that like it says all the people. There must have been a ton of people, right? And the motive of the scribes and the Pharisees, they were motivated by jealousy, I think, that that Jesus is showing up at the temple, and people are saying things like, Man, we've never heard, we've never heard people teach, somebody teach with the authority that this guy has. And this is just a carpenter, right? Like this is, and so Jesus is teaching, and this goes all the way back to it. Makes me think of when he was 12 years old and he was in the temple, and even then he was recognized like the way that he was speaking about scripture and um and things. So so they bring in this woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery. How do you think she felt?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Scared. So much shame. Yeah, like guilty.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Alone?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Isolated.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Does and placing her in the midst. That probably means they brought her in and like put her in the middle of the room. Like probably right to Jesus, who's teaching where everybody could see him and hear him.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah, they probably had to split the crowd. I I imagine the commotion of them probably dragging her, I would imagine. She probably also wasn't fully clothed. I mean, it says they caught her in the act of adultery. They probably grabbed her while she was with a man and interestingly left the man, apparently, and just brought the woman and dragged her in front of everybody into the temple, and then they tried to trap Jesus. Right?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Mm-hmm. They said that they might have some charge to bring against him. Like they're trying so hard, and everything they try, like he responds so well, obviously, and they can never find anything to say against him. Even when they put him on trial before the cross, like they have nothing to say about him. And he really is innocent, like they can't find anything.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Yeah. Now, Jesus does, I mean, Jesus lifts up the law of Moses all the time, right? He's always referring back to Deuteronomy.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

He might have been reading it in this moment. Like he might have been, they might have heard him say something about the law and then been like, we know how to test him. Like he just said this.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

We don't know what he was teaching.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

So what they say in verse 5, they say, Now in the law of Moses, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? And that's a true statement. They're not saying anything false, right? And so they're trying to, totally trying to trap Jesus. And then it says in verse 7, and they continued to ask him. So Jesus bends down. And when when I'm sharing this story with kids, like I think it's good to act it out a little bit, you know, maybe to bend down and and write on the write on the ground to get give them an image of what it what it might have looked like for Jesus to bend down. I would imagine that they got pretty impatient with him. I I wonder how long he wrote on the ground. It doesn't say how long he wrote on the ground, right? But they I think they were impatient because it says there, and they continued to ask him, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

I think it's interesting, we don't know what he was writing at all. And I've heard people try to guess and say what he was writing, but was it one of the camp speakers we had shared this story when we were at camp? I forget, was it Miss Leathers who I think it was. We had an awesome camp speaker who shared this story, and she basically, I think it was her, basically said, like, we don't know what Jesus was writing, but as soon as he bent down and started writing, it took all the eyes off of this woman so that she could have a moment to collect herself, a moment to just like maybe get an ounce of dignity back and not have as much shame as she had walked in with.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah, I love that. And you're right, we don't know what he's what he's writing, and I think it's it's irresponsible of us to to claim that we do know what he was writing. Um, I don't think it matters. I I think that what matters is what you just said, that uh he put the attention on himself completely and took the attention off of her. And then he says, he stands up and he basically says, If you haven't sinned, you can throw the first stone. He says, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. So he says one thing, right? And then he just bends down and starts writing on the ground again. And what happens next?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

They start leaving one by one.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

You know what I think? So, based on what you said a minute ago about when Jesus bent down to look at the ground, it it allowed the woman to have dignity. I think after he says this, he bends down and writes on the ground again. And I think that gives dignity to all the people who are walking away too. Like it gives them a chance to he's he's not he's not condemning the woman, and he's also not condemning the other people. Like he's just allowing basically them to ponder in their hearts their own sin, and they turn and walk away. And so he doesn't, it's not like he's pointing fingers at them, he's not even looking at them, he just allows them to walk away.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

And they go beginning with the older ones, which is funny. I don't know if they had more wisdom or if they were less prideful, like more willing to admit that they had sinned.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

I wonder if Nicodemus was there. I wonder if he was one of the ones who walked away first, if he was. You know, because in the in chapter seven, he's kind of standing up for Jesus a little bit. He's kind of like a secret disciple, you know. So Jesus is left alone. So it goes from this, it goes from this temple, the court to the temple where that is packed full of people.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Do all those people leave too, or just the Pharisees?

SPEAKER_01 10:27

It's a good question. It says he was left alone with the woman. Um, I mean, obviously there were probably a few other his disciples, maybe were there. I mean, to witness the rest of the story, but yeah, that's a really good question. We don't know, I guess, do we? But he it's just Jesus and her, and that that brings to mind the woman, the bleeding woman as well, where it's just her and you know, he he has an encounter with this woman or the woman at the well. Like, interesting, like the even that, even having a conversation with a woman in this culture would have been taboo, right? But we see several instances where Jesus interacts with women and and gives them dignity and honor in a society that was that didn't always honor women, right? I wonder why he asked her this question. Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? Like he knows they all walked away. I wonder why he asked her that question. And she calls him Lord. I've noticed that. I've never noticed that before.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

And this is the first time he's addressing her. So it could be he wanted to just talk with her and maybe have her answer the question like he's asking, has no one condemned you? And instead of just telling her he wants her to like proclaim, like, no, no one condemned me, no one like to say that out loud to believe it.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Maybe he was giving her some some more dignity, or not dignity, but helping her to see that everyone is sinful. Like, yes, you've you've made this mistake, you have you've sinned clearly, like you're you are not without sin, like you're guilty, but so is everyone else. You know? And and they've all none of them none of them have condemned condemned you, and she says it with her own words. No, no one has can no one has condemned me.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

And he says, Neither do I. And then he says, go, and from now on, sin no more.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Yeah, I like that. You get grace and truth right there, right? Who he could have condemned her, but he chose not to. I think a lot of times we fall short, or not fall short, but we stop short of sin. Like we're like, yes, Jesus loves you, yes, Jesus died for you. But we are called to we are called to live a life of holiness. Like God wants us to to be holy, and we're and it's this it's kind of this tension of knowing that we are not capable of that on our own, but that's still that's still the the standard, right? Is that God wants us to live lives and and so he Jesus is still saying, Go and sin no more. She's going to sin again, right? But the standard, he sets the standard, he says, go and sin no more. And then thankfully for us, he died for our sin, right? And so, um, and we still we still experience sin either ourselves or other people, but and we can go into the whole thought of you know talking about sanctification and how as we as we grow closer to Jesus throughout our lives, like he does transform us and um make us more holy, but we we never can fully leave our life of sin until we're on the other side, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:55

If you were sharing this with kids, what like characteristic of Jesus would you focus on?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

I think I would focus on his compassion that you know sin makes Jesus sad. And so I think I have I have a note written in my Bible that Jesus looks past the sin to the person, and that I mean he created this this young woman in his image to bring him glory, and she is just like all of us, she's squandering it and she's experiencing death on earth because she's not living a life that the life that she's been called to live. And I think it saddens him, and so he has compassion on her and yeah, I think compassion. Is that what you would think, or what would you I'd probably say compassion. Anything else?

SPEAKER_00 14:57

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Alright, well, let me pray. Jesus, thank you so much for this day, Lord. We thank you for your word, we thank you um for being a God who is compassionate toward your children, Lord. Um you know everything about us, and you know um that we all have strayed away from you and we've all been in rebellion against you, um, but you love us anyway, and um, and so we're grateful for that. We thank you for dying on the cross to save us. Um and we pray, God, that you would um would be in all of our lives and that you would draw us closer to you, Lord. We just want to worship you as King Um and Savior. And um God, we just ask that you would bless all those who are listening, and we pray that your word would um would bring truth and grace um into our lives, and that um that we would just get to experience more of you. And we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Amen.