Throughout John’s Gospel runs an ongoing debate about the Torah. Jesus doesn't reject the law, as the religious leaders accuse; he reinterprets it. They, in turn, question whether he has the authority to do so. In this week’s passage, they try to trap him with a case that seems to pit justice against mercy. But Jesus exposes how their fixation on the letter of the law has lost sight of its heart, placing compassion, grace, and mercy back at the center.