Section 97
Jesus' forgiveness of a woman caught in adultery
Jerusalem, in the temple
John 7:53-8:11
53And each went to his own house. 1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning he again went to the temple courts. All the people came, and he sat down and taught them. 3Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought him a woman who had been caught in adultery. Making her stand before them all, 4they said to Jesus, testing him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5In the law, Moses commanded us that such women should be stoned; what then do you say?” 6(They said this to test him, so that they might have something to accuse him of.) But Jesus stooped down and wrote with his finger on the ground, taking no notice. 7When they continued asking him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him among you who is without sin throw the first stone at her.” 8And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9When they heard this, they were convicted by their own consciences and began to go away one by one, starting with the older men. So Jesus was left alone, with the woman there before him. 10Then Jesus stood up and saw no one but the woman. So he said to her, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I pass judgment on you; go and sin no more.”
Notes
Temple Mount
For many people, their first view of the Temple Mount is from the Mount of Olives to the east. The most easily recognized area of Jerusalem; the Temple Mount is located within the walls on the eastern side of the Old City. The site of the Temple of Solomon, and of the later Temple built by Herod the Great (which is the temple Jesus visited), is now an enormous stone platform upon which stands the golden covered Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque.
Here Jews come to pray at the Western Wall; here Muslims come to pray at the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque. Here Israeli soldiers and the Arab Temple Mount Police protect what may rightly be called the most revered spot on the face of the earth.
Solomon built the First Temple on the threshing floor that his father David had purchased from Arunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18 25). The site was hallowed as the place where God stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), and where God stopped the plague against the Israelites (2 Samuel 24:15 18). In addition to the Temple and its associated buildings, Solomon built other magnificent structures between the City of David and the Temple Mount.
Southern Steps of the Temple
The main public access to the Temple was from the southern steps. People entered and exited through a double and triple gate, together called the Huldah Gate. These gates had to handle enormous crowds during feast days; estimates as high as 500,000 people at a time. The triple arched gate was the entrance and the double arched gate served as the exit. Although the double and triple gates have been filled in, you can still see their outlines in the walls near the well-preserved steps of the monumental staircase.
The triple gate to the east led to a tunnel that brought worshippers up to the Temple and the columned porches. To leave the Temple they would exit the double gate on the west and go down a staircase 4 times larger than the entry staircase, since everyone was leaving at the same time. The steps below the wider staircase are well preserved and are one of the few places you can walk where you are sure Jesus walked. An interesting exception to the rule about entry and exit gates regarded mourners. According to the Talmud, they were to go in and out against the traffic in order that people would know of their loss. People would then extend their condolences by saying, “May He who dwells in this House give you comfort.”
In this area we will also see ritual baths from the time of Christ, important inscriptions from the Temple, the street that runs inside the Western Wall tunnels, and the ruins from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.