Today we have one of the gospel readings

that has captured the imaginations of millions of people.

This wild story,

where a woman is in the act of adultery,

and dragged into the temple precincts,

and they are about to stone her.

And of course,

this episode

is a test

to see what Jesus will do.

They are trying to provoke him

so that they have a pretext to claim

he is a false prophet,

so that they can stone him

along with the woman.

Lots of people have talked about the obvious facts.

No one commits adultery alone.

Where is the other party?

Was he the married one?

And why were all these scribes and pharisees

in the right place at the right time?

And of course,

the real thing,

the thing that everyone is confused about.

Why did Jesus stop and write on the ground,

and what did the writing say?

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com

You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto

You can view Belonging House Books here: https://bookshop.org/shop/belonginghouse