Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.

The religious scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. John 8:1-5, The Message

They were looking for a way to get Jesus to say or do something against the law, so they find a woman committing adultery (why is only the woman brought in? That’s another discussion.). They had no real interest in her adultery: she was just a means to an end. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were blind to her worth, her humanity, her life.

Sometimes people get so caught up in defeating an enemy, in winning, that they are blind the collateral damage:

The lives that are lost in the pursuit.

The damage to their own souls that comes with every thrown stone.

[And the story will continue… John 8. This is one in a series of writings. For more information, click Picturing John above.]