We read in John chapter 8 (The woman caught in adultery) that Jesus bent down and wrote in the dust of the ground.
The actual words he wrote is not revealed to us but considering man’s (and woman’s) inherent gravitation towards sin and finger pointing I think the following scene is more than possible. So, let us load up our donkeys and take ourselves back in time to that very same place and mingle with the crowd.
We can see we are certainly not in a big city, this is a typical close-knit village-like community where everybody knows everybody, you know everybody and they know you.
We all know Hilary the harlot, who doesn’t! She lives in that corner house over there near the square and is a thorn in the side of many a wife and girlfriend but her ‘encounters’ continue.
We all know Joseph the worker in leather, he’s a bit of a gambler and his wife can’t seem to cure him. It’s a pity really because he’s a good craftsman and would not be so poor if only he could keep a hold of his money and not gamble it away but we all like Joseph.
John is a farmer with an olive grove and a few head of sheep and goats, a good man most of the time and as we all know is eager to help anyone.
Ananias the merchant will buy and sell almost anything but well known as an opportunist and a philanderer.
And so it goes on, Thomas the potter, Adam the shepherd, Matthew the fisherman and Simon the worker in metals… all well known in our village but some of their deeds are not so well known!
So here we are then, all the folk who live around here are gathered at the temple court at daybreak, the coolest part of the day to listen to this teacher named Jesus about whom we have heard wondrous things of wisdom and of healing.
Suddenly there is a scuffle and in come Adam and Simon dragging a poor sobbing woman. They stand her in the front and turn her around to face the crowd, it is none other than Hilary.
Simon shouts out to the crowd but especially to this teacher Jesus “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery, in our law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman, now what do you say?”
Before we continue we should wonder why this accusation of Hilary was not adhering to the strict rule of the law. It was custom and practice in those days that both the woman and the man are brought to the temple gates and accused, not just the woman as in this case. It was also custom and practice that the priest writes down the law that had been broken in the dust of the floor for all to see.
He could write it anywhere but the writing must not be permanent, in other words he could not write it on parchment or paper where it would be permanent.
Most of us already knew Hilary had just been ‘caught in adultery’ with Ananias again and after a few minutes of whispering everyone else knew that Ananias was the other party to this adultery (although all this had been pre-planned this time in order to trap Jesus).
Jesus was fully aware of the plot to discredit him by disgracing the woman. There was a hush, we all looked towards Jesus, what was to be his response? He quietly looked around the crowd, his eyes met every eye including mine but he said nothing. He then stooped down and began writing in the dust of the ground. GOD SAYS YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
That was not the response they wanted, their voices raised they wanted more, a lot more, they wanted blood and to trap Jesus with the law.
Jesus straightened up and looked at them, the voices stilled again to hear his words.
Very well then he said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” and with those words Jesus bent down again and continued writing in the dust of the ground. This time the silent message hit them like a stone from a slingshot, the message was now clear to all who were near enough to see what Jesus was writing.
We watched him write… ANANIAS (Top of the list and all knew he had been the culprit this time although no one said a word, we just looked at him.) JOSEPH, he had been with Hilary the day before and a pattern was now forming on the ground.
LUKE… now the people understood, some began to leave. FRANCIS, JOHN, THOMAS, ADAM, MATTHEW, SIMON… As each new name appeared every man there knew that these named men had all ‘visited’ Hilary from time to time and fearing that their name might be next they took hold of their wives and girlfriends and marched them away as quickly as possible before their name appeared and questions were asked.
Soon all had gone and it was quiet. Jesus did not look up all the time this was happening. He knew very well the effect his writing would have, he may have been surprised that ‘everyone’ had gone and now he was left only with the woman.
She had been watching as Jesus wrote, she fully understood the meaning and sequence of the names Jesus had written at her feet and why each man had gone and taken his wife/girlfriend with him.
As the sun rose on that extraordinary morning Hilary felt so very cold and alone, accused but guilty, she was in what we all know as ‘a dark place’ in the emptiness and silence of the town square. In those few tearful minutes of silent contemplation she had had time to consider her life, a life that was about to end by being stoned to death to uphold the law of Moses for her sinful life.
I’m sure Jesus was giving her this prolonged time of quiet to contemplate her life, if only she could turn back the years… Suddenly Jesus sat up looked around and said to her “woman, where are they, has no one condemned you?” “No one” she said fearfully. “THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN.”
Reader, can you feel the emotion and relief that Hilary must have felt right then; can you feel the crushing weight of the world being lifted from her back? Let us not point the finger because we have all found ourselves in that ‘dark place’ from time to time. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. None of us is without sin, all of us need God’s grace more times than we care to admit. That woman was now, in effect reborn, her life had been spared and returned to her, how great she must have felt eh?
Let us hope that all our sins that are written in the dust of the ground have blown away too, never to be seen again.
