What Jesus Wrote in the Dust

What Jesus Wrote in the Dust

Good Morning Friends,

Perhaps it was the sign of the fish. Perhaps it was about the man who was missing from the accusation.  Perhaps it was about the lie being told. Perhaps it was about the role Jesus was to play. Perhaps it was about the flesh of the weak and the pride of one’s belief turned into a crime itself.

Ultimately though I think it is the meaning of love and mercy and justice in the light of the truth that all have sinned…yes this was the essence of What Jesus Wrote in the Dust.

Jeremiah 17:13 (NIV)

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and 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. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

John 8:2-11 (NIV)

Message: It was during the feast of the Tabernacle and attention was being turned to the gift of living water. It was a busy time to be bring a court to order for a trial. But where are the eyewitnesses? Not present. An accusation without evidence….surely the case will be dismissed in this court convened on the street. But then Jesus became a witness to another crime as he showed the accusers that they were not keeping the law, but that he would. Friends what Jesus wrote was not nearly as important as the action of him wiping away what was written. Yes every man is a sinner. Thankfully it is the nature of God’s grace to rescue the greatest of sinners…to condemn condemnation. God is the giver of second chances. God writes the law. God writes the judgment. God writes forgiveness.

Pray we be kind to everyone we meet. Pray we know that everyone is fighting a battle with sin. Pray we not become a mob taking out our fears on others. Pray we realize that God gives second chances and so should we. Pray we realize that the only evidence we have of being Christians is our love. Pray we be caught in the act of laying down our rocks and putting down our stones so we might offer another sinner a hand up out of the pit. Pray we realize that except for the Grace of God we too would be condemned.

Blessings,

John Lawson