The Gospel of John Quotes
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Source: The Gospel of John
Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. (John 8:3-7, KJV)
Context
At this point in John's Gospel, the religious authorities are not pleased with Jesus, so they decide to set a little trap for him. They bring him a woman who's been caught committing adultery and explain that according to Jewish law, they're supposed to stone her for her crimes. Ouch.
Why is this a trap? Some scholars think that the Romans might have forbidden the Jewish people from putting anyone to death. If that's right, it means Jesus is caught in a bit of a catch-22. If he says that the woman should be stoned, he'll be rejecting Roman law. If he says that she shouldn't be stoned, then he'll be dumping on Jewish rules. Looks like a no-win situation.
But, Jesus is way smarter than that. He tells the men to go ahead and stone the woman. But with one caveat—the person in the group who is without sin gets to chuck the first stone. Basically, Jesus has played them at their own game. They can't stone the woman because they'd have to publically proclaim that they are sinless in front of everyone. Not something you want to be boasting about! So, the men walk off one by one and the woman is saved. Yay!
Where you've heard it
You probably don't want to be warned about the dangers of casting the first stone, because it probably means you're acting like you're squeaky clean while accusing others. Hey, we've all been there.
Additional Notable Refereces
- During Murder on the Orient Express, one of the murderers quotes Jesus' words to mean that she is one of the sinless who can cast stones at the wicked. Um, because murdering someone really makes you sinless? Right.
- In the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence, a not-so-nice man ends a speech with, "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." Then he gets stoned himself.
- On Family Guy, Jesus tells a crowd that he who is without sin should cast the first stone, then he picks up a stone and throws it. Hey, he can.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Yes, you will sound a bit uppity when you say this. But, if it saves someone from stoning, it's well worth it.