Go, and Sin No More

When the woman taken in adultery was brought before Jesus, He made the powerful response: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”  I believe we generally take that to mean today that since no one in the group was without sin, since all were guilty of sins whether small or great, none should be allowed to condemn her to death.  This is certainly a principle that we should live by—not assuming that we can give any final judgment to others since we are imperfect ourselves—but it’s probably not exactly what Jesus meant.  As Elder Talmage pointed out, “Such was the law; the accusers on whose testimony the death penalty was pronounced were to be the first to begin the work of execution.”  Jesus was telling those who were the primary witnesses of the crime to come forth, for the Law of Moses stated, “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death….  The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6-7).  And who was the primary witness?  Of course it was the man involved in the adultery who was conspicuously missing from the accusations of the scribes and Pharisees.  Likely the whole thing had been a set up as a trap for Jesus, and the man himself was no doubt in the midst of them as they accused the woman.  So when Jesus told that man (and likely the other primary witnesses who had wanted the evil act to take place) to come forth and cast a stone, they simply could not because they were guilty of the same thing.  They were indeed not without sin.  

               Another aspect of this story that doesn’t seem to be understood well is that Jesus did not in fact forgive the woman at that moment.  Rather, He spared her final condemnation and put her on a path of repentance so she could be forgiven.  President Kimball wrote in The Miracle of Forgiveness after referencing this story: “Note that the Lord did not forgive the woman of her serious sin.  He commanded quietly, but forcefully, ‘Go, and sin no more.’ Even Christ cannot forgive one in sin.  The woman had neither time nor opportunity to repent totally.  When her preparation and repentance there complete she could hope for forgiveness, but not before then.”  (With this statement I remember one professor of religion remarking that it was ironic then that the current published version of The Miracle of Forgiveness now has a picture of this scene, where according to the book itself the woman did not yet receive the miracle of forgiveness, on the cover!)  The woman was put on the path to repentance, though, and indeed the Joseph Smith Translation helps us see that she did eventually mend her ways: “And the woman glorified God from that hour, and believed on his name” (JST John 8:11). 

This story is a powerful affirmation of what Jesus taught, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).  Perhaps in some way we are all like the woman, accused by the adversary and the world who would limit our ability to change and reform, to repent and overcome our sins.  Satan was called by John “the accuser of our brethren”—he accuses us and would have us believe that we cannot change, that we cannot be saved because we have too many faults or have committed too many sins (Revelation 12:10).  But the Savior’s desire is never to condemn us, even when we have indeed done wrong, but pleads with all of us, “Go, and sin no more.”  Then, through His power, we can indeed be saved.