John 8:1-6: a reflection

1but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, 4they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. 5Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?” 6They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

When the scribes and Pharisees drag a woman caught in adultery before Jesus, their true concern is not the woman at all, but trapping him. They said this testing him, the account tells us, that they might have something to accuse him of. The woman was to them merely an instrument, a pawn to be used in their scheme against Jesus; her shame, her fear, her life, were nothing to them but a means to their end. They cared nothing for her; they used her to advance their own agenda against Jesus. This is a cold and cruel thing: to treat a person not as a person but as an instrument for our own ends, to use their situation, their vulnerability, their shame, as a means to what we want. The accusers reduced the woman to a tool; her humanity was invisible to them beside their scheme. To use people as instruments for our own purposes, caring nothing for them but only for what they can serve, is a real wrong.

Notice what the accusers were really doing: using the woman as an instrument to trap Jesus. They professed concern for the law, for justice; but their aim was to trap Jesus, and the woman was merely their means. They cared nothing for her as a person, her fear or shame or fate; she was a pawn in their scheme, useful only for what she could accomplish against Jesus. This is the coldness of using people as instruments: seeing them not as persons with their own worth and dignity, but as tools for our own ends. When we use people this way, their humanity becomes invisible to us; we see only what they can do for us. The accusers' treatment of the woman exposes this wrong plainly. To reduce a person to a means, to use their situation for our own purposes without regard for them, is to fail to see them as God sees them, as a person of worth. People are not instruments for our agendas; they are persons, to be regarded as such.

That is worth taking to heart, for it is wrong to use people as instruments for our own ends, and we should see and treat them as persons. We can use people as means to our own purposes, caring nothing for them but only for what they can serve, as the accusers used the woman merely to trap Jesus; but this reduces persons to instruments and fails to see their worth and dignity. People are not tools for our agendas; they are persons, to be regarded and treated as such. There is a call here to see people as persons, not as means to our ends. Do not use people as instruments for your own purposes, caring nothing for them; see and treat them as persons of worth, unlike the accusers who used the woman to trap Jesus. See and treat people as persons of worth rather than using them as instruments for your own ends, as the accusers dragged the woman before Jesus merely to trap him, caring nothing for her; for to reduce a person to a means, using their situation for our own purposes without regard for them, is to fail to see them as God sees them, and people are not tools for our agendas but persons with their own worth and dignity, to be regarded and treated as such.

Lord Jesus, when the scribes and Pharisees drag a woman caught in adultery before you, their true concern is not the woman at all, but trapping you. They said this testing him, the account tells us, that they might have something to accuse him of. The woman was to them merely an instrument, a pawn to be used in their scheme against you; her shame, her fear, her life, were nothing to them but a means to their end. They cared nothing for her; they used her to advance their own agenda against you. This is a cold and cruel thing: to treat a person not as a person but as an instrument for our own ends. Show me what the accusers were really doing: using the woman as an instrument to trap you. They professed concern for the law; but their aim was to trap you, and the woman was merely their means. They cared nothing for her as a person; she was a pawn in their scheme. This is the coldness of using people as instruments: seeing them not as persons with their own worth, but as tools for our own ends. When we use people this way, their humanity becomes invisible to us. To reduce a person to a means is to fail to see them as you see them. Take that to my heart, for it is wrong to use people as instruments for my own ends, and I should see and treat them as persons. I can use people as means to my own purposes, caring nothing for them but only for what they can serve, as the accusers used the woman to trap you; but this reduces persons to instruments. People are not tools for my agendas; they are persons of worth. Keep me from using people as instruments for my own purposes, caring nothing for them; help me see and treat them as persons of worth, Lord, unlike the accusers who used the woman to trap you.