John 8:9
When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.
When they heard this
This phrase refers to the response of the accusers after Jesus' profound statement in the preceding verse, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." The Greek word for "heard" (ἀκούσαντες, akousantes) implies not just the act of hearing but understanding and internalizing the message. This moment is pivotal as it reflects the power of Jesus' words to convict the conscience, leading to introspection and self-awareness among the accusers.

they began to go away one by one
The phrase "began to go away" (ἐξήρχοντο, exērchonto) suggests a gradual departure, indicating a personal and individual conviction. The accusers, upon realizing their own sinfulness, chose to leave the scene. This action underscores the transformative power of Jesus' teaching, which prompts self-examination and humility. The departure "one by one" highlights the personal nature of conviction and repentance, as each person must confront their own heart before God.

beginning with the older ones
The mention of "the older ones" (πρεσβύτεροι, presbyteroi) first departing is significant. In Jewish culture, elders were respected for their wisdom and experience. Their decision to leave first may indicate a deeper awareness of their own shortcomings or a greater understanding of the law and its implications. This act of humility by the elders sets an example for the younger accusers, demonstrating that wisdom often comes with the recognition of one's own need for grace.

until only Jesus was left
The phrase "only Jesus was left" (κατελείφθη μόνος, katelēiphthē monos) emphasizes the singular authority and purity of Christ. In a scene filled with accusations and judgment, Jesus remains the sole figure without sin, embodying the perfect balance of justice and mercy. This moment foreshadows the ultimate role of Jesus as the righteous judge and savior, who alone has the authority to condemn or forgive.

with the woman standing there
The image of "the woman standing there" (ἡ γυνὴ ἐν μέσῳ, hē gynē en mesō) is powerful. She remains in the presence of Jesus, the only one who could rightfully judge her. Her standing position suggests vulnerability yet also a readiness to receive whatever Jesus would say. This moment captures the essence of grace, as she stands before the one who offers forgiveness and new life. It is a poignant reminder of the transformative encounter with Christ, where condemnation is replaced with compassion and redemption.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is teaching in the temple courts when the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Him. His response to their challenge is pivotal.

2. The Woman Caught in Adultery
She is brought before Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees, accused of adultery, and is at the center of the moral and legal dilemma presented to Jesus.

3. The Scribes and Pharisees
Religious leaders who seek to trap Jesus by presenting Him with a legal and moral challenge regarding the woman caught in adultery.

4. The Temple Courts
The setting of this event, a place of teaching and worship, which underscores the public and religious nature of the confrontation.

5. The Crowd
Those who were present in the temple courts, witnessing the interaction between Jesus, the woman, and the religious leaders.
Teaching Points
Self-Reflection and Humility
The departure of the accusers, starting with the older ones, suggests a moment of self-reflection and recognition of their own sinfulness. We are called to examine our own hearts before passing judgment on others.

The Power of Conscience
The accusers' consciences were pricked by Jesus' words, leading them to leave. This highlights the importance of a sensitive conscience that responds to truth.

The Role of Mercy
Jesus' handling of the situation emphasizes mercy over legalism. As followers of Christ, we are encouraged to extend grace and mercy to others, recognizing our own need for the same.

The Authority of Jesus
Jesus' authority is evident as He remains alone with the woman, having dispersed the accusers. His authority is not just legal but moral and spiritual, calling us to submit to His lordship.

The Call to Repentance
While the passage focuses on the accusers, it also implicitly calls the woman to repentance, as seen in the subsequent verses. We are reminded of the need for personal repentance and transformation.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the reaction of the accusers in John 8:9 teach us about the importance of self-examination before judging others?

2. How can we apply the principle of mercy triumphing over judgment in our daily interactions with others?

3. In what ways does this passage challenge us to consider the authority of Jesus in our own lives?

4. How does the concept of conscience play a role in our decision-making and interactions with others, as seen in this passage?

5. What steps can we take to ensure that we are extending grace and mercy to others, reflecting the character of Christ?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 7:1-5
This passage discusses the importance of not judging others hypocritically, which connects to the actions of the scribes and Pharisees who are quick to condemn the woman without self-reflection.

Romans 2:1-4
Paul speaks about the danger of judging others while being guilty of similar sins, echoing the theme of self-examination and repentance seen in John 8:9.

James 2:13
This verse highlights the principle of mercy triumphing over judgment, which is demonstrated by Jesus' response to the woman and the accusers.
The Accusers Condemned and the Accused AbsolvedJ.R. Thomson John 8:1-11
Excluded from the Destination of JesusD. Young John 8:1-23
A Miserable Sinner and a Merciful SaviourB. Thomas John 8:3-11
An Adulteress and Murderess DetectedJohn 8:3-11
Care for the FallenW. Baxendale.John 8:3-11
Christ and WomanJ. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.John 8:3-11
Christ's Mission Non-LiteraryBp. Alexander.John 8:3-11
Condemning ConscienceKrummacher.John 8:3-11
ConscienceW. Baxendale.John 8:3-11
ConscienceW. Baxendale.John 8:3-11
Conscience a Provision of MercyDr. Arnot.John 8:3-11
Conscience StrickenW. Baxendale.John 8:3-11
Conviction of ConscienceG. McMichael, B. A.John 8:3-11
Death by StoningGodwin.John 8:3-11
If Christ Condemn Us Not, We Need not Fear MenJohn 8:3-11
Mercy and Misery Met TogetherA. A. Ramsay.John 8:3-11
Paraded Piety UnrealC. H. Spurgeon.John 8:3-11
Respectable SinH. Bushnell, D. D.John 8:3-11
Shameful LifeE. H. Chapin, D. D.John 8:3-11
Sin and its TreatmentCount Tolstoi.John 8:3-11
Sin not Palliated Though PardonedBp. Wordsworth.John 8:3-11
So When They Continued Asking Him, He Lifted Himself UpF. Hastings.John 8:3-11
Spiritual ConvictionsB. Beddome.John 8:3-11
Tenderness to the ErringH. C. Trumbull, D. D.John 8:3-11
The Awakening of ConscienceJohn 8:3-11
The Danger of Silencing ConscienceW. Arnot, D. D.John 8:3-11
The DilemmaBp. Ryle., W. H. Van Doren, D. D.John 8:3-11
The Judges JudgedR. Glover.John 8:3-11
The Literary Silence of ChristW. F. Adeney, M. A.John 8:3-11
The Penitent's GospelF. B. Meyer, B. A.John 8:3-11
The Scene and its SignificanceArchdeacon Farrar.John 8:3-11
The Significance of the Writing on the GroundArchdeacon Farrar.John 8:3-11
The Two ConvictionsR. Besser.John 8:3-11
The Woman Taken in AdulteryD. Thomas, D. D.John 8:3-11
The Writing in the DustJ. Trapp.John 8:3-11
Virtue TaughtEcce HomoJohn 8:3-11
Why Christ Wrote no BookJohn 8:3-11
People
Jesus, Disciples
Places
Jerusalem, Mount of Olives
Topics
Alone, Beginning, Begun, Behind, Center, Centre, Conscience, Conscious, Convicted, Court, Departure, Ears, Elder, Elders, Eldest, Forth, Hearts, Listened, Middle, Midst, Older, Oldest, Ones, Standing, Starting, Till
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 8:9

     5184   standing
     5263   communication
     5726   old age, attainment

John 8:1-11

     5557   stoning

John 8:2-11

     5381   law, letter and spirit

John 8:3-11

     5897   judging others
     6028   sin, deliverance from
     6654   forgiveness, Christ's ministry
     7552   Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

John 8:7-9

     6242   adultery

John 8:7-11

     5009   conscience, nature of

Library
Ascension Day
Eversley. Chester Cathedral. 1872. St John viii. 58. "Before Abraham was, I am." Let us consider these words awhile. They are most fit for our thoughts on this glorious day, on which the Lord Jesus ascended to His Father, and to our Father, to His God, and to our God, that He might be glorified with the glory which He had with the Father before the making of the world. For it is clear that we shall better understand Ascension Day, just as we shall better understand Christmas or Eastertide,
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

December 18 Evening
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.--JOHN 8:32. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.--The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.--If the Son . . . shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.--Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 15 Morning
Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.--ROM. 6:14. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.--My brethren, ye . . . are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.--Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.--The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 27 Evening
God . . . giveth . . . liberally, and upbraideth not.--JAS. 1:5. Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. The grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many . . . The free gift is of many offences unto justification. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 10 Evening
The perfect law of liberty.--JAS. 1:25. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 28 Evening
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.--PROV. 20:27. He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her . . . And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.--If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 9. "I do Always those Things that Please Him" (John viii. 29).
"I do always those things that please Him" (John viii. 29). It is a good thing to keep short accounts with God. We were very much struck some years ago with an interpretation of this verse: "So every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." The thought conveyed to our mind was, that of accounting to God every day of our lives, so that our accounts were settled daily, and for us judgment was passed, as we lay down on our pillows every night. This is surely the true way to live. It is the
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Light of the World
'... I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.'--JOHN viii. 12. Jesus Christ was His own great theme. Whatever be the explanation of the fact, there stands the fact that, if we know anything at all about His habitual tone of teaching, we know that it was full of Himself. We know, too, that what He said about Himself was very unlike the language becoming a wise and humble religious teacher. Both the prominence given to His own personality,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Never in Bondage'
'We... were never in bondage to any man: how gayest Thou, Ye shall be made free!'--JOHN viii. 33. 'Never in bondage to any man'? Then what about Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Syria? Was there not a Roman garrison looking down from the castle into the very Temple courts where this boastful falsehood was uttered? It required some hardihood to say, 'Never in bondage to any man,' in the face of such a history, and such a present. But was it not just an instance of the strange power which we all have and exercise,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Three Aspects of Faith
'Many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him....'--JOHN viii. 30,31. The Revised Version accurately represents the original by varying the expression in these two clauses, retaining 'believed on Him' in the former, and substituting the simple 'believed Him' in the latter. The variation in two contiguous clauses can scarcely be accidental in so careful a writer as the Apostle John. And the reason and meaning of it are obvious enough on the face of the narrative. His purpose
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

July the Fifth the Discipleship that Tells
"He that followeth Me." --JOHN viii. 12-20. Yes, but I must make sure that I follow Him in Spirit and in truth. It is so easy to be self-deceived. I may follow a pleasant emotion, while all the time a bit of grim cross-bearing is being ignored. I may be satisfied to be "out on the ocean sailing," singing of "a home beyond the tide," while all the time there is a piece of perilous salvage work to be done beneath the waves. To "follow Jesus" is to face the hostility of scribes and Pharisees, to
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

On the Words of the Gospel, John viii. 31, "If Ye Abide in My Word, Then are Ye Truly My Disciples," Etc.
1. Ye know well, Beloved, that we all have One Master, and are fellow disciples under Him. Nor are we your masters, because we speak to you from this higher spot; but He is the Master of all, who dwelleth in us all. He just now spake to us all in the Gospel, and said to us, what I also am saying to you; but He saith it of us, as well of us as of you. "If ye shall continue in My word," not of course in my word who am now speaking to you; but in His who spake just now out of the Gospel. "If ye shall
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Believing on Jesus, and Its Counterfeits
The Lord Jesus also told the contradicting sinners that the day would come when cavillers would be convinced. Observe how he put it: "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself." Cavillers may have a fine time of it just now; but they will one day be convinced either to their conversion or their confusion. Let us hope that many will see the truth before they die--early enough to seek and find a Saviour. But many in our Lord's day who discovered
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Of the power of the Word of God, of fiery desires, and the essence of self-renunciation. John viii. 47.--"He who is of God heareth the words of God." DEAR children, ye ought not to cease from hearing or declaring the word of God because you do not alway live according to it, nor keep it in mind. For inasmuch as you love it and crave after it, it will assuredly be given unto you; and you shall enjoy it for ever with God, according to the measure of your desire after it. There are some people who,
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Morgan -- the Perfect Ideal of Life
George Campbell Morgan, Congregational divine and preacher, was born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England, in 1863, and was educated at the Douglas School, Cheltenham. He worked as a lay-mission preacher for the two years ending 1888, and was ordained to the ministry in the following year, when he took charge of the Congregational Church at Stones, Staffordshire. After occupying the pulpit in several pastorates, in 1904 he became pastor of the Westminster Congregational Chapel, Buckingham Gate, London,
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10

Freedom.
The Truth shall make you free.... Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.--John viii. 32, 34-36. As this passage stands, I have not been able to make sense of it. No man could be in the house of the Father in virtue of being the servant of sin; yet this man is in the house as a servant, and the house in which he serves is not the house of sin,
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Of the Imitation of Christ, and of Contempt of the World and all Its Vanities
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,(1) saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they teach us how far we must imitate His life and character, if we seek true illumination, and deliverance from all blindness of heart. Let it be our most earnest study, therefore, to dwell upon the life of Jesus Christ. 2. His teaching surpasseth all teaching of holy men, and such as have His Spirit find therein the hidden manna.(2) But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel,
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Tobacco.
Tobacco wastes the body. It is used for the nicotine that is in it. This peculiar ingredient is a poisonous, oily, colorless liquid, and gives to tobacco its odor. This odor and the flavor of tobacco are developed by fermentation in the process of preparation for use. "Poison" is commonly defined as "any substance that when taken into the system acts in an injurious manner, tending to cause death or serious detriment to health." And different poisons are defined as those which act differently upon
J. M. Judy—Questionable Amusements and Worthy Substitutes

Messianic Claims Met by Attempt to Stone Jesus.
(Jerusalem. October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VIII. 12-59. ^d 12 Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. [The metaphor of light was common, and signified knowledge and life; darkness is opposed to light, being the symbol of ignorance and death.] 13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true. [They perhaps recalled the words of Jesus
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Sin.
The time was when there was no sin in this world. At that time it was an Eden. By man transgressing God's holy law sin entered this world. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. This is the origin of sin in this world and the awful consequence. God's design was that his creation be sinless and pure, but by disobedience sin has marred the scene of God's creative purity. The following texts will
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day

The Course of the World.
Unmistakably there exists a wide gulf of separation between the children of God and the children of the world. Christ is the only avenue of escape from the world. The wide, open door of salvation is the exit. He who would return from the blissful shores of Christianity to the beggarly elements of the world can do so only on the transporting barges of Satan. As a tree is known by its fruits, so is a true follower of Christ. The fruit borne by a Christian is directly opposite in its nature to the fruit
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day

The First Chapter: Imitating Christ and Despising all Vanities on Earth
HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness," says the Lord (John 8:12). By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ. The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they
Thomas À Kempis—The Imitation of Christ

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