What does John 8:11 mean?

A woman has been brought to Jesus by Pharisees after being caught "in the act" of a capital offense: adultery. There is no question about whether she committed the act. She is morally guilty. The Law explicitly assigned adultery the death penalty (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). She is legally guilty. The man she stands before is sinless (Hebrews 4:15), and perfect (John 8:46), and her Creator (John 1:1), giving Him unquestionable authority to punish her. In a profound lesson, however, Jesus takes a different approach.

Jesus challenged her attackers, pointing out that they weren't following the entire relevant law. Accusers were supposed to cast the first stone (Deuteronomy 17:7). Also, the Law calls for the death of both guilty parties, yet only this woman was accused of wrongdoing. Jesus pointed these things out, and with some unspecified writing in the dirt, He has driven off every single one of the men who called for her death (John 8:6–10).

This verse must be interpreted in its full context. Jesus does not tell the woman, "you did nothing wrong." He does not say, "don't worry about what you did." Instead, Jesus simply states that He does not condemn her, which in this context means He is not going to stone her. Yet He explicitly tells her not to sin anymore. This incident is often misapplied by those who think Christians ought never to speak out against sin. The exact opposite is true: Jesus showed this woman spectacular grace, while still holding firm in calling her adultery what it was: a moral failure which should not be repeated.

This incident serves as a useful example for Christians. The adulterous woman is morally and legally guilty, and Jesus is morally and legally perfect. No one on earth had greater justification to kill her for her sin than Jesus did in that moment. And yet, Jesus chose not to do what He was allowed to do. Instead, He chose to do what He should do, which was to exercise "right judgment" (John 7:24), to show mercy (Proverbs 21:10; Zechariah 7:8–9; Matthew 23:23), while still speaking out against sin. Having the right to do something does not mean it's the best option; sometimes, the right thing to do is to be softer, gentler, and more forgiving than the world (Matthew 12:7; John 13:35; 1 John 2:16).

Another point worth taking from this incident is the danger of hypocritical judgment (Matthew 7:2). The Pharisees violated the very standards they claimed to uphold (Matthew 7:3).