What does John 8:3 mean?

At various times in Jesus' public ministry, He was challenged by religious leaders, such as the Pharisees (Matthew 16:1; 19:3; 22:35; Luke 10:25; 11:53–54). Their questions were usually insincere traps, not serious requests. These were brought up to embarrass Jesus in front of His followers. Unfortunately for Jesus' critics, those attempts always came up short. In fact, they usually ended worse for the critics than if they'd been silent. Here, the Pharisees introduce a new factor: a real-life, flesh-and-blood moral dilemma, both unexpected and scandalous.

The verse here says the woman had been caught "in adultery," specified in the next verse as "in the act." Most likely this happened some time earlier, and not mere moments before she was brought to Jesus. Her guilt was not a matter of debate: she was absolutely, unquestionably culpable for the sin of adultery.

Yet this raises a question which might have been part of Jesus' response. If the woman was caught "in the act," then so was the man she was with—so where is the guilty man? This entire episode is an attempt by Pharisees to show that they follow the Law and Jesus does not. But even their trap fails that test: they've only brought half of the guilty parties (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).

The act of "placing her in the midst" is part of the Pharisees' intended drama. This is meant to be as public as possible. That means Jesus' response can be given as much publicity as possible. Of course, that strategy assumes Jesus is about to make a serious public-relations error. This assumption is once again false.