Pundayschool · Passage · New Testament

John: devotional and study guide

The Gospel of John tells the story of a crowd that brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, hoping to trap him between the law of Moses and his own mercy. Pundayschool has landed on the verse that ends the trap and starts the real question: let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

1 passage covered · John 8:7 · free devotional and study guide

In short

John is the fourth Gospel, known for slowing down on a handful of long, close encounters between Jesus and individual people. Pundayschool has covered one passage so far: John 8:7, "let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her," from the episode The Chair of Judgement, which comes with a free devotional and small group study guide about the verdict that always swivels back around to face the one delivering it.

The passage

Episode 23 · John 8:7

The Chair of Judgement

Some of us hold court every single day: no robe, no law degree, just a chair and a strong opinion. Someone parked across two spaces. Guilty. Someone's phone rang during the silent prayer. Guilty. Justice is swift, when it is aimed away from us. Then the docket clears, and we allow ourselves one small victory spin. The chair keeps going. It stops at the mirror. Court is adjourned due to personal relevance. That is the trouble with a swivel: our verdicts come back around to face us. Jesus once faced a crowd holding stones and said, let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. The stones went back down. The only one qualified to throw never picked one up.

Read the devotional Open the study guide

One passage so far. When another episode lands in John, it will be filed on this page.

One verse to hold

"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

John 8:7, NIV

Questions people ask

What is John 8:7 about?

Religious leaders bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and demand a verdict, using her as a trap more than as a person. Jesus answers, let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her, and the accusers leave one by one, the oldest first, because none of them could honestly meet that standard.

Why does John 8:7 matter so much to Christians?

Because quick judgment of other people, while quietly exempting ourselves, is one of the most constant temptations in ordinary life. John 8:7 does not excuse sin, Jesus still tells the woman to leave her life of sin, but it refuses to let anyone hand down a verdict they could not survive themselves.

How does The Chair of Judgement use John 8:7?

The episode turns quick judgment into an enormous swivel judge's chair: verdicts land fast because they are aimed away from us, until a small victory spin turns the chair to face a standing mirror. John 8:7 lands as the turning point, the only one in the story actually qualified to throw a stone never picked one up.