Caught in the Act!

The Woman Taken in Adultry

Y’shua went unto Har HaZeytim, the Mount of Olives, praying for strength to finish his service successfully.

To that end, early the next morning, he again came into the temple, and the people who were there had soon gathered tightly around him; so Y’shua sat down among them, intending to resume his teaching; but he had just begun, when the scribes and Separatists interrupted his lessons by parading before them a woman guilty of adultery, who they had taken into custody.

They rudely dragged her into the room, creating spectacle. Then, pulling at her arms this way and that, they bullied her into the center of the crowd and proceeded to accuse not her, as she was clearly guilty. No! They brought accusation against Y’shua through her, defying him to give his judgment concerning her offense!

Then, using a salutation they knew would mortify his disciples, they mocked him, saying, “Rabboni! This ‘woman’ was taken in adultery: she was caught in the very act! Now, then: Moshe, in the Torah, commands us that any guilty of this offense is to be stoned. What do you say?”

They hoped he would answer carelessly, so that they would have a clear-cut reason to bring charges against him about a clear-cut issue that wouldn’t depend on some clever interpretation of “spiritual matters!”

But Y’shua stooped down. With his finger, he scribbled on the ground, as though he wasn’t listening to them. And presently, after they continued pressing him, Y’shua raised himself up.

And when he had stood, he pointedly answered them, “He that’s without sin among you, let him be the one to cast the first stone at her!” Then he stooped back down, again; and he resumed his writing on the ground, again, using his finger.

The silence that followed fell not on him, however, but upon the accusers; for absorbing the import of his reply, those men became convicted in their own minds by their own thoughts concerning such matters. One by one, beginning with the most respected among them, and ending with their most junior followers, they made their quiet escapes.

Presently, Y’shua was left alone, using his finger to write on the ground, while the woman stood, surrounded by the crowd.

When Y’shua had lifted himself up, he saw none of those who had brought accusation against the woman; nor was any left who had sought to bring accusation against him. He and the woman were left to face the crowd together; so he asked her, “Woman, where are those who brought accusation against you? Does no man condemn you?

She said, “No man, rebbe.”

And Yahushua said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

Then, Y’shua turned to those that remained, saying, “I am the Light of the world! He that follows in my steps will not walk in darkness; for he has joined the company of those who are truly alive!”

The Separatists stubbornly complained at him, growling, “You bear record of yourself. Your record is not reliable!”

Engaging them, Y’shua took this opportunity to teach them: “Although I bear record of myself, my testimony is true. I know where I come from, which is where I will return. You are unable to discern my origin and my destination.

“You judge according to appearances—by those things that seem obvious to you. You are captives of common sense. I judge no man; but, if I must judge, my judgment will be true because I am not alone. We stand before you in the Father, who sent us.

“It is also written in your Torah, that the testimony of two men is reliable. Well, I am one who bears witness of himself; and our Father hy, who sent me: he also bears witness with me.”

They berated him, “Where is this ‘Father’ of whom you speak?”

Yahushua answered, “You neither know me, nor my Father; for had you known me, you would have known my Father, also.”

Y’shua spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. And no man withstood him; for his hour hadn’t come. Then Yahushua continued, “I go my way, and you shall seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.”

The Yehudim asked themselves, “Do you think that he might kill himself, in that he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

And Yahushua challenged them, “You are from beneath. I’m from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Because you’re of the Earth, I told you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that i am, you shall die in your sins.”

Then they said to him, “Who are you?”

And Yahushua answered, “Even what I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say to you, and there is much to be determined concerning you; but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have received of him.”

They didn’t understand that he spoke to them of Father Yah.

Then Y’shua continued the teaching, “When you’ve lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that i am, and that I do nothing of myself. In the very same moment the Father teaches me, I relay that instruction to you. He that sent me is with me, now! Father Yah hasn’t left me alone because I always do those things that please him.”

As he spoke these words, many believed on him; and Y’shua encouraged them, saying, “If you live in my teachings, walking in them, you are, indeed, my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Some scoffed, hoping to draw out of him the kind of slogan a rebel might use so they could use it against him and thus justify the ruling class. They gloated, “We are Avraham’s seed, never enslaved by any man. How is it you say, ‘We shall be made free?’”

Y’shua parried their tacit accusation, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you that whoever commits error is the slave of error; but the servant doesn’t abide in the house forever; it’s the Son that abides forever in his house; and if, within you, the Son shall make you free, you will be truly free.

“I know that you’re Avraham’s seed; but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and you do that which you have seen with your father.”

Angry now, they shouted, “Avraham is our father!”

Y’shua scolded them, “If you were Avraham’s children, you would do the works of Avraham. But now? You seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truths I have received of HaShem. Avraham did no such thing as you are doing. You do the deeds of your father.”

Exasperated, they protested, “We’re not born of fornication! We have one Father, even HaShem!”

Yahushua countered them, “If HaShem were your Father, you would love me; for I proceed forth and come from HaShem. Nor do I come to you of my own initiative. The Father sent me.

“Why is it, then, that you can’t understand what I’m saying to you? It’s because you cannot receive my teachings, not because you don’t understand the words into which they have been seeded.

“You are of your father, the devil; and you enable the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning! He doesn’t honor the truth, because there’s no truth in him!

“When he gives voice to a lie, he bears witness of himself; for he’s a liar. This, your father, is the father of lies! And because I tell you the truth, you cannot believe me.

“Which of you who accuses me can convict me of error? And if I speak truth, why is it that you can’t believe me? Well, he that is of HaShem is able to receive his words: that you don’t understand what I say therefore signifies that you are not of HaShem!”

Then answered the Yehudim in bald bitterness, “Didn’t we well say that you’re a Shomroni, and that you have a demon!?”

Y’shua answered, “I don’t have a demon! I honor my Father, which is why you dishonor me. I’m not after fame; however, there is One that does seek my fame; and that same One also judges my service in his Name; for I position myself as being in it!

“Truly, I truly say to you, that if a man keeps my sayings, he will never see death.”

Then snarled the Yehudim, “Now we know that you have a demon! Avraham is dead; and the prophets, also; and yet you say, ‘If a man keep my sayings, he will never taste of death’!? Are you greater than our father Avraham, who’s dead? The prophets are also dead!? Who is it that you make of yourself!?”

Y’shua answered with calm deliberation,“ If I honor myself, my honor means nothing; but it’s the Father that honors me. HaShem answers for me: him who you claim to be your la, although you haven’t known him!

“But I know him; and if I should say that I haven’t known him, then I would be a liar, as you are liars. But I do know him, and I abide in his Word.

“Your father Avraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and it made him glad!”

Then the Yehudim blundered, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Avraham!?”

Yahushua said to them, “Truly! I tell you in truth, that before Avraham was, i am.”

Then they took up stones to throw at him; but Y’shua escaped out of their hands and fled the temple. Hiding himself, he used stealth to make his way through the midst of the crowd; and, so, he eluded them.