Originally posted by bbarr
Jesus never doubted the justice of the punishment, but did doubt that anybody present had the moral authority to carry it out. He never claimed that it was not just to kill the adulteress, merely that it was hypocritical of those gathered to punish her.
Whereas I think
a point was to illustrate the hypocrisy, does Jesus
in fact comment about the justice of such a punishment?
Pretending for a moment that the story is in fact a literal representation
of some event in Jesus' lifetime, I take the story to be a commentary
on 'second chances;' yes, everyone has sinned, some even severely,
in the sight of the Lord. Some even intended to sin, regardless of what
the Law said. But, in the Lord, even the most severe of sins can be
forgiven; even the most grotesque behavior (through contrition and the
promise of diligence) can be overlooked.
After all, Jesus is believed to have been without sin; He could have thrown
the first stone and been very justified (by His own accounting), but He
did not. I would think that He did not because He believed that such a
punishment was disproporationate to the crime.
Maybe it doesn't, and I am reading too much of the forgiveness which I
think ought to be elemental to all righteous belief systems.
Nemesio