They said to him, “Teacher, [Jesus] this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.
5Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
6They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
7But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.
10Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”
In John 8:1-11 Jesus is being placed in a tricky spot. If Jesus says kill the adulteress, he is going against Roman law; since the Romans have conquered Israel, they set down the laws and according to Roman law only the Romans can carry out capital punishment. If Jesus says do not stone the adulteress then he is contradicting Jewish law which says that adulteresses must be stoned to death.
1. What is Jesus saying about the observation of Jewish law?
2. What sins can be forgiven according to Jesus?
3. In other places in the Gospels it says “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.” (Luke 6: 37) but “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3). In the context of this passage in John, what is the difference between rebuking, judging and condemning?
4. Why do the eldest go away before the younger people?
Question about character
Look over the “Questions to discuss prior to Marriage” in the Resources reading. Which questions would help you understand the character of the person you are dating or considering to marry? What character traits or virtues do you think are essential for a good marriage? How do you know if your future spouse will have these character traits?
Samaratian Woman
Gospel of John Chapter 4
He had to* pass through Samaria.
5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,* near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.a
6Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
9* The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”b (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)
10* Jesus answered and said to her,c “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11[The woman] said to him, “Sir,* you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water?
12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”d
13Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
14but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”e
15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.”
17The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
18For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”f
19The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.g
20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;* but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”h
21Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.i
23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;* and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
24God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”j
25* The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming,kthe one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
26Jesus said to her, “I am he,* the one who is speaking with you.”l
27At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,* but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people,
29“Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
30They went out of the town and came to him.
31Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”
32But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.m
35Do you not say, ‘In four months* the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.n
36The reaper is already* receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.o
37For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’p
38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
39Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman* who testified, “He told me everything I have done.”
40When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
41Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
42and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”q
Here are a few questions to start the discussion: you do not need to answer all of them.
1. In Israel women drew water in the morning when it was cool and went as a group for mutual protection. Why did the woman come to the well alone at noon?
2. “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” What does this passage indicate about Mosaic law? How does Jesus respond and what is the significance of his response?
3. Why is it significant that the woman had five husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband?
4. The woman asks Jesus a question about where the Jews worship. What is the significance of his answer?
5. What is the role of the woman when she returns to the Samaritans?
Beatitudes
The following passage is know as the Beatitudes. It is the “blessings and curses” section of the New Testament. In the Mosaic covenent there is a blessings and curses section in Deuteronomy 28. In Deuteronomy 28, wealth is a blessing of a living according to the laws of Moses, and poverty is seen as a curse. How is this blessings and curses section different from that in Deuteronomy?
What does the Beatitudes about the Christian nature of love?
What is it like to love your enemies?
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.
27 “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.
30Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
34If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.
35But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
36Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.
37 “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven
Good Samartian
The story of the Good Samaritan is often misinterpreted. In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the scholar of the (Mosaic) law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
Why does he ask this question? What is he trying to find out? How does the story answer the scholar’s question?
What does it say about the Christian nature of love?
25 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
29But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
32Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
33But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.
34He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.
35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’
36Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?
37He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”