Before getting into this story, I will recognize that this story isn’t in the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel.  Now, that DOES mean that it was later added.  That DOESN’T mean that it isn’t a true story.  Since I believe that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected as substitute for the punishment that I deserved, I also believe and trust that God orchestrated the gathering of these readings and materials and that this was all part of a bigger miracle He was doing in giving us the Bible.  In that context, I believe that this story probably belongs here.  And, in the sense that it really does illustrate things about Jesus that we already know from other parts of scripture, it seems completely logical that this is a true story that people later recalled and decided to include into this text.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter all that much to me how or why it is here...it is just fun to speculate and it is interesting.

As for the reading itself, this is the famous story of the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus positions himself, just as in the story of the woman at the well, to be encountered by a group of scribes and Pharisees.   And they pose a challenge to him, almost a riddle, and we don’t know if they literally brought a woman to Him or if they and Jesus are acting metaphorically...we don’t even know that this actually happened.  But I am going to read this really quickly and then comment.

Here is the takeaway for me - though we don’t know if this episode happens, it certainly reinforces ideas authentic to the gospels.  I am thinking of Luke’s gospel, in Luke 6:37, or in Romans 12:17-19.  A big part of our faith journey is learning to own our part of our sin.  Sure, bad things happen to good people.  Bad things happen to all people.  But, we all point to that to make ourselves feel better really.  More often, bad things happen because of sin...sometimes it is our sin, sometimes it is the sin of others.  But, most often it is our sin that leads to our hurt and our pain.  And I think Jesus is trying to make sure we focus our energy and our attention on the one thing that we CAN control...what we choose to do in our daily lives.  Look how He ends this passage...by telling this woman that she’s forgiven, now go and do right.

It is so simple.  Today, my takeaway is also going to be so simple...today I really want to focus on doing right with each decision.  With each decision today I will simply ask, “God, is this what you would have me to do in this moment?”  Simple and straight forward.