The woman caught in adultery

“[They] said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do You say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him.” John 8:4-6
Many times we see the Pharisees asking Jesus a theological question in order to trap Him. Here they bring Him a woman whom they say they caught in the act of adultery. This was a violation of the seventh of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:14) and was punishable by death according to the Mosaic Law (Lev. 20:10). However, at this time, the Roman authorities had taken away the Jews’ right to execute capital punishment. Here is the trap: if Jesus said, ‘No, she should not be stoned,’ they would accuse Him of breaking God’s Law. If He said, ‘Yes, she should be stoned,’ they would go to the Romans and say that Jesus was breaking Rome’s law. (A similar instance is seen here in Matt. 22 where the Pharisees ask Him whether it is right to pay taxes to Caesar or not.)
There is another clue that tells us this is a trap. If the woman had indeed been caught ‘in the act’ of adultery, the Law required that both the man and the woman be brought and put to death (Lev. 20:10). It has been suggested that the man was one of the Pharisees.
Jesus avoids the trap completely. He bends down and starts writing on the ground, and when they press Him for an answer, He responded, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). We don’t know what He was writing, but it caused them one by one to leave. It has been suggested that He was writing down their sins. Alwyn Wall points out that the proper translation of Jesus’ words is ‘If any of you is without this same sin.’ Perhaps Jesus was writing down names, places, dates... In any case, they all leave and Jesus pronounces to the woman that she is not condemned. He tells her, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11) – acknowledging that she was guilty, but giving her a second chance.