Now we know that the unnamed woman this month, the woman caught in the act of adultery. I named her Aphiema (Ah-fee-mah) and gave a possible enhancement of the story. (See “Gone Astray – Part 1“, “A Trap envisioned – Part 2“, and “The Trap Is set – Part 3“.)

 Let’s look at the incident straight from the Scripture.

At dawn, he [Jesus] appeared again in the Temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. John 8:2-9

One by one, the accusers drop their stones and finally Mark’s partners leave. Mark looks over at Apheima. Her hair is disheveled, a tear steaks down her cheek. For the first time, Mark is deeply aware of his own sin. It seems that both Aphiema and he have been caught.

It is just as the teacher said, I held lust in my heart and acted upon it. When she used me and I used her, I didn’t feel shame; I felt anger. My anger turned to hate, my hate to rage and revenge. Had Jesus said the word, I would have committed murder that day.

Apheima is aware that only one accuser is left. She glances up to meet Mark’s glazed eyes. He turns his head, drops his stone and walks away. As he leaves, he hears Jesus say,

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one,” she said. Then neither do I accuse you. Go and leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-11

Note that while Jesus did not condemn her, neither did he condone her act of sin. He urged her to leave that life.

Oh, what lessons we learn from this scene. We’ll look at some of those lessons next week. My hope is that she confessed her sin and ended up becoming a follower of Jesus. If so, she would live up to the Greek word I named her. Apheima means “forgiven.”

~ Joyce ~