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 and the idea of us being disciples of the light of Jesus. 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 To Enlighten Us?
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)
If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, “Let us follow other gods” (whom you have not known) “and let us serve them,” you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. The Lord your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God—who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery—to turn you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” whom neither you nor your ancestors have known, any of the gods of the peoples that are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, you must not yield to or heed any such persons. Show them no pity or compassion and do not shield them. But you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deuteronomy 13:1-9 (NRSV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
John 8:12-20 (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 use our truth to condemn people. 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 and light of love. 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.
And So, it is one of the great mysteries of the Christian life that we are to be both player and spectator when it comes to our salvation. We are tested and see some things and are blind to others, so we must act in faith, trusting that Jesus is the only light that guides us on the true path toward life in abundance. Here in today’s text is Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world.” He has exposed the sin of the scribes and Pharisees, but they will have none of his light. But for us we must not reject the truth. The one thing we can do, must do, is to get in the game…the life of being a disciple and discipling others toward greater purity is not an option in ministry if we hope it to be effective. When you have that feeling that God is working on some aspect of your life, please join Him in the experience so that your salvation, your joy… no His Salvation and His joy would be reflected in you more fully, so you can be effective in this regard. The main job Jesus left us to do was to make disciples that shine forth love. You see, it is one thing to be a believer and another to be a disciple, married into a family of believers. The journey here extends beyond time and includes as its nexus the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Discipling takes discipline. So today we consider the things that lighten our load for the journey with Jesus and help light the path in our own spiritual development and level of commitment. And it comes to my mind that when Jesus walked the earth it was not particularly safe to walk around at night but that it might just be a bit safer if others knew you had given away all your possessions and if one had a lamp on loan to light one’s path realizing that ultimately there is judgement for which we need to prepare.
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.
Pray we recognize our debt to Christ. Pray we be transformed in the light that focuses on a devotion to God that comes out of a heart lightened by love. Pray we become creatures of light that spark light and vision in others. Pray therefore
that our possessions do not possess us. Pray the weights of the world be removed from our dark life. Pray we have the proper knowledge and vision before we engage in a decision-making process. Pray we make wise decisions. Pray we see the possibilities. Pray we count the costs. Pray we be obedient to God in taking the steps necessary to grow into the Christians God would have us to be. Pray we realize that there are eternal consequences to the development of our souls. Pray we enjoy a full life of salvation and spiritual transformation that helps us to become creatures of the light. Pray we be people of love and light for we have been blessed to be.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 