Why do we punish wrongdoers? At a primitive level we do no doubt want to get even. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth†is much-quoted phrase to support this desire. This is a step from wanting to annihilate anyone who hurts us, but it is only one step. Then there is the idea of punishment as correction.
A lot of ink is spent today on the question of sexuality and relationships. In the Gospels Jesus refers to such matters rarely, and it is usually in the context of adultery or divorce. In the Old Testament, adultery was a common image for apostasy, the breaking away from the faith community. In both cases there was seen to be a breaking of the bond, an example of destroying the covenant relationship, between man and woman, between God and His people. The punishment of stoning reflects the seriousness with which this breach was perceived. Jesus does not question the seriousness or the violation of the law. He does not question the punishment. He questions the integrity of His questioners. Each of us has broken the covenant in our own way. Some of us will have been punished, others escaped punishment. We can only have the right to inflict such a punishment if we are free from guilt ourselves. Jesus who is free from guilt, wishes to heal rather than condemn, to reconcile rather than reproach. The story ends with His admonition to the woman to go and sin no more.
The one who is free from sin is allowed to condemn, yet Jesus, who is free from sin, does not condemn. Very much the opposite. The hidden teaching of the story is that the more we condemn others, the more likely we are to be weighed down by our own sinfulness. With the clarity of vision that comes from true integrity, we have neither the need nor the desire to condemn others. Rather we seek ways in which they can be forgiven and reconciled. It remains true that the desire to find the good in each other and the search to find ways of allowing that good to emerge and grow are at the heart of the Christian endeavor. Jesus gives the woman caught in adultery a chance. Do we give others a chance? We can find ourselves on either side of the equation, the one who is caught in a downward spiral or the one who has the opportunity to offer such a person the chance to change and sin no more. Do we grasp such opportunities when offered in our lives?