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…and placing her in the midst,
John 8:3
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Last month
I spent some time
looking at paintings
featuring Mary
Magdalene
.
When I started
comparing what the
Bible says about her to
the way she has been
portrayed in art,
I was
surprised
to learn that
my own mental
image of her was
incorrect! I thought
she was the woman
caught in adultery
.
Sorry, Mary!
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Anyway,
thinking about
how Jesus chose
restoration over
destruction in
that story
led me to
paint this
image
.
I tried
to portray a
scene of righteous
accusation, and the
regular spacing of the
figures suggests
imprisonment
to me
.
The woman
deserves judgment,
as do all of us,
but receives
freedom
.
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Here’s
the article
I wrote about
Mary Magdalene
if you’re interested
in biblical art
:
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but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]
John 8:3-11
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