2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
- John 8:2-11 (NIV)
People have asked me if being a public defender is inconsistent with my religious beliefs. The people who I help defend are accused of crimes that are repeatedly denounced throughout the Bible. Why would I help reduce punishments (or eliminate punishment) for them? In this story, Jesus responds to a person accused of a crime of his time in a fascinating way. First, through an argument he convinces the people not to condemn her for committing a crime. Then he ends the story by telling her to “leave your life of sin”. Note, He doesn't merely convince them not to punish her, but he also advises her not to continue her ways.
There was a poster in my high school, St. Francis Prep, that read “Live God’s Love”. As a public defender, extolling the values of mercy and protecting against unfair punishment, I feel that I’m doing that. I've heard public defenders behave similarly to the way Jesus did when confronted with someone accused of violating a law. On one hand, they were in court vigorously defending their client, arguing until a jury is ready to find their client is not guilty. On the other hand, they tell their client to stay out of further trouble, often giving them advice to help stay away from the situations that led them into trouble in the first place. Perhaps it doesn't seem to be the best thing to do for many people, but if it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s certainly good enough for me.
