John 8:2-6
“Now early in the morning He (Jesus) came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. "
(The woman caught in adultery.)
This story so beautifully portrays our wonderful Jesus. He is so cool, isn't He? While He was here on earth, went about doing good everywhere He went: Healing all that were sick or oppressed of the devil, opening the eyes of the blind, feeding thousands of people and preaching the Gospel.
Those legalistic bunch of hypocrites, the Pharisses however, were so angry and jealous of Jesus. They hated Him because He took the spotlight off of them.
Do you think that if He preached the same thing everyone else did, law mixed with a little grace, that they would have bothered confronting Him? Not a chance.
They "caught" this hapless woman right in the act and threw her in front of Him. How "upstanding and noble" of them to bring this sinner to Jesus. They didn't really have a question about what should be done with her, did they? No. It was just another in a long line of wicked, nauseating, infuriating attempts to try and trick or trap Him in a lie or some inconsistency in order to try and discredit Him.
They were so blinded by their hatred and jealousy because, before Jesus came, people came t them. Now, however, they flocked to Him in droves. They couldn't see past the end of their turned-up noses to see The Son of the Living God standing RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF THEM.
The account says she was "caught" in the act of adultery. I say "caught," quote unquote, because they didn't bring the man with her. Last time I looked, adultery takes two. They didn't bring him because it was probably one of them: A Pharisee. Very likely she was unclothed.
The whole sordid scene was probably a set up. They "dutifully" brought her to Jesus and said, no doubt in haughty, self-righteous tones, "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him."
Jesus was non-plussed. He never even responded to them. Let's continue following the story in verse 7:
"7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."
He didn't say a word as if He hadn't heard a thing they said. He simply stooped down and wrote with His finger on the ground, just cool-defined.
Those hard-nosed hypocrites thought, "Aha! We have Him cornered." They reasoned that if Jesus just forgave her and let her go, they could say, "See? He has transgressed the law of Moses!" But if He said, "Stone her," they'd cry, "Oh look, He preaches grace but where's the grace now?" discrediting His ministry.
But Jesus wasn't fooled by their pathetic ruse. He knew their hard hearts.
What Did Jesus Write On The Ground?
What do you think He wrote on the ground that evoked such a dramatic response from this heretofore self-assured, self-righteous crowd? You've probably heard, as I have, lots of ideas and speculation over the years from various sources. No one ever seemed to have any ideas that made sense.
I always assumed He wrote in dirt on the ground. However, due to a fairly recent archaeological discovery, they have unearthed the actual temple courtyard where Jesus would have written with His finger. Guess what, Church: He didn't write in dirt; HE WROTE ON THE TEMPLE STONES......TWICE in fact!
Hmmm.....let me think. Writing......on stones.....with His finger. Sound familiar? Where have we heard that before? Mt. Sinai! Yep. He wrote the big Ten on tablets of stone back then not once, but twice just like in this story. It says Jesus stooped down TWO TIMES. Remember, God had to write a second set of stone tablets because Moses broke the first set.
Though not part of this story, it may interest you to know that those tablets were made of sapphiire according torabbinical tradition. There is also scriptural precedent for this conjecture. For more on that topic, please follow this link: https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/ananias-and-sapphira/
The text doesn't specifically say what Jesus wrote but it gives us a REALLY BIG CLUE! As He was writing, one by one the accusers (depicting our accuser, the devil) each dropped the "STONES" they were carrying and went away. How does the devil accuse us? THE LAW. In Biblical typology, stones are a depiction of the law.
The law is holy, just and good but it is completely inflexible, demanding ABSOLUTE COMPLIANCE.......OR ELSE! Every single one of them knew very, VERY WELL that, if you are guilty of one, you're GUILTY OF ALL. There is NO MARGIN FOR ERROR!
What Jesus did by writing on those stones was reminding them of WHAT ELSE had been written on stones: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. His actions said to them "You presume to tell me the law? I'm the One Who gave it."
He didn't yell; He did chide; He simply, quietly, graciously, perhaps even gently, with great sadness at the hardness of their hearts no doubt, reminded the angry crowd that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WERE GUILTY OF BREAKING THE WHOLE LAW." No wonder they all dropped their stones! They knew that they were just as guilty as this woman they entrapped.
To this woman, however, who offered no defense or excuses for her sin He showed great Grace. He didn't accuse her. He didn't excuse her sin. The passage goes on like this:
"10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'"
FIRST, Jesus let her know with love for her in His eyes that He did not condemn her. THEN He said "Go and sin no more." He gave her the gift of "no condemnation" SO THAT that she could walk uprightly.
Just like her, you and I don't have the grace we need to "go and sin no more," either because "the strength of sin is the law." But THE ANTIDOTE TO SIN IS GRACE. You cannot out-sin Grace. His Grace is greater than all our sin.
Only when we know we are NOT condemned are we empowered to live holy lives, almost by accident; effortlessly., as it were. That's what Jesus meant when He sais, "He who is forgiven much, LOVES MUCH."
(For more on this topic, follow this link: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/no-one-is-forgiven-little.html)
He does that for us today: Gives to us that same grace, that same gift of "no condemnation." Contrary to popular opinion, grace does NOT give people a "license to sin." Who needs to be governed by the Ten Commandments when we are lead from within by JESUS HIMSELF!
The legalistic, self-righteous pharisees among us always say that "grace gives people a license to sin," but Jesus says OTHERWISE. Since when do people need a license to sin? They seem do so perfectly well without one. It is LAW, in truth, that produces licensciousness. It is a lack of knowing how forgiven they are that causes people to sin and remain in bondage to debilitating habits.
"The strength of sin is the law," remember. Grace and truth "came by Jesus Christ."
Church, you are forever righteous in Christ. Your entire life, including your future sins, are completely cleansed. You, too, have the power to "Go and sin no more" because Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you."
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