Good Morning Friends,
We are going to look at a story of Jesus today and I think this story best illustrates how Jesus was full of Grace and Truth. We have also offered some scripture to enlighten us as to what was happening in the event. Let me set the scene a little bit… Jesus is teaching a group of people at the temple when all of a sudden, a woman is brought before him. This woman was caught in the act of adultery, not accused, caught in the act… This is a setup, a trap, for they left the man out of the picture… Not fair. They only brought the woman before Jesus to trap him. But there is more to the drama if we can answer what Jesus might write in the sand regarding our lives. So, What Did Jesus Write In The Sand?
Scripture: O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
Jeremiah 17:13 (KJV)
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 7:37-39 (NRSV)
while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
John 8:1-11 (NRSV)
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes; thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.
Hosea 4:13-14 (NRSV)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;”
Luke 6:37 (NRSV)
Message: Jesus came full of grace and truth and points us to the truth with love. As in today’s story about the scribes and the Pharisees and the woman caught in adultery, Jesus offers everyone in the story grace for their mistakes, not to disregard the sin, but to establish a way back into right relationship. Jesus doesn’t even justify their answer yet, instead he just starts writing in the sand…And he writes twice. The Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus wrote in the dirt because that’s not the point. I imagine he wrote the scripture that governed this situation…perhaps from Jeremiah and Hosea. This would have been relevant to the setting and the case for the woman had no witness and the man who was the greater of the sinners was not in attendance at the event. This must have set the tone for what came next. For when they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Now I have some theories and you have undoubtedly heard others about Jesus writing down their names in the order of their birth next to their sins. But the more important piece is not what he says but what he does not say. For Jesus does not ignore the truth nor does he ignore the command to love. Friends, some of us lean too much towards truth. We use our truth to condemn people, often including ourselves. Even though we are right, we got a Bible verse to back it up, that is not love. And some of us lean too far towards grace to the point of disregarding the truth. We excuse our actions and the actions of others. But Jesus wants the best for all of us and that is why in today’s story of the woman caught in adultery he balances the scales of justice as he tells everyone involved to stop sinning and start seeing the truth of love.
And So, Jesus loves us so we can learn to love others. This is how God relates to us and through this same grace is how we should grow in our relationships with others. We do not have to have it all together for then we might just be too proud. We just have to be willing to repent. That Jesus writes the message in the sand is perhaps as relevant as what he actually wrote. For the word sand in Hebrew has a double meaning of the ordinary as well of the grains of little rocks in the desert. Here dusty sand is a good reminder of how sin works clouding our vision, choking our breath of life, and making it difficult to move. When Jesus is writing in the sand, the magnitude of God’s promise to Abraham is before them. The challenge of Jesus overcoming the temptation in the desert is the backdrop. Jesus has been set apart for a holy purpose of ruling with grace.
Pray that we learn to love God, pray that we learn to love one another…responding to His revelation in our life with obedience to His law of love. Pray we ask God to reveal the truth to us with love. Pray we learn how to live in the tension of grace and truth. Pray that even though we live in a culture that is immoral, l we are not consumed by that culture.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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