“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

The Pharisees dragged a woe-begone woman before Jesus and said, “Teacher, this woman hath been taken in adultery, in the very act. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such: what then sayest thou of her?”

If Jesus had said He favored stoning the adulteress, He would have contradicted His own message of mercy and compassion. If He had said He opposed stoning her, He would have been accused of contradicting the Law of Moses.

However, the law also said that stoning could only take place if two independent witnesses had testified that they had warned the couple prior to actually catching them in the act. These conditions were so stringent that in the four hundred years the law was in existence, there were only eight recorded deaths by stoning.

In this case, if witnesses had caught the adulterers in the act, where was the guilty man? Where were the witnesses? Under the law, the witnesses to adultery were supposed to be the ones to cast the first stones. But no one stepped forward, stone in hand. It seems the Pharisees’ case was based on hearsay, rumor and gossip. Many a girl has lost her reputation in that way.

Gossip and slander are among the most common and hurtful of all sins. A single unkind remark can ruin the reputation of a person or business, especially if the comment is posted on the Internet for all the world to see. The person who starts the rumor and the person who listens and spreads it share in the blame. Before forwarding a questionable email or blog posting, check out its truthfulness on www.snopes.com or www.factchecker.org.

Jesus refused to listen to the Pharisees’ rumors. He bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. Some believe He was writing the sins of the Pharisees in the sand. But when His adversaries persisted in their demands, He straightened up and gave them an answer they weren’t expecting:

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

Lost for words, the Pharisees left one by one until only the woman remained. Turning to her, Jesus asked, “Woman, where are they? did no man condemn thee?”

She said, “No man, Lord.”

“Neither do I condemn thee,” Jesus said, “Go thy way; from henceforth sin no more.”

Jesus’ statement makes clear that the woman was guilty of some transgression (who isn’t?) but, unlike the Pharisees, He was ready to forgive her.

Lent is a time of year when we stand before God, much as that woman did, and ask forgiveness, knowing that ours sins can be wiped away as completely as if written on the sand.