I love the New Testament scene the apostle, John, paints for us in the eighth chapter of his book. Setting- dawn at the Temple. Enter- Jesus. Action- he begins to teach. One by one, the common people trickle in to learn from the Master. Not so the “religious hierarchy” of the day- the scribes and the Pharisees. Rather than lift God up through worship at the Temple, they seek to bring Jesus down with legalism. Their plan? Undo him with a question. Since they have no provable crime they can accuse Jesus of, they seek a victim and find one… A woman, caught in the act of adultery.
Ignoring the male half of the guilty pair, they drag the petrified woman into the Temple, shattering the lessons of love and forgiveness that Jesus had been sharing with the crowd. The crowd falls silent as the Temple patriarchs shove the woman to the ground before the lowly Teacher.
“Teacher, “ they demand. “This woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women (note how they ignore the part of the law that called for the consenting partner to be stoned, too). So what do you say?”
Jesus could have explained his answer. He could have argued his beliefs. All- knowing that he was, he could have unveiled their devious plot to disprove him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he calmly bends down and begins writing in the sand.
The accusers persist in their questioning. “What do you say? What is your answer?” Though John doesn’t describe it for me, I can picture the smug looks of self-satisfaction upon their faces. The twisted grins of superiority. The hardened looks of legalism. I’ve noted the same looks on people’s faces in my world.
The questioning grows to a frenzy; at last, Jesus straightens. “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” That’s it. No huge legal refutation. Rather, an offer. Whoever has not sinned, pick your rock. Be the first. Throw back your wrist and aim for the sinner. The crowd stands mute. The air grows still. Once more, Jesus stoops down and begins writing in the sand.
John never explains what Jesus wrote in the sand that day. What he does tell us is that, “When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center.”
I like to picture it this way… In the center of the Temple courtyard, Jesus towers over the accused woman. Head bent, body curled inward, her fetal position symbolizes the guilt in her heart, the price she knows she must now pay. Her heart pounds in rhythm to the taunts of the crowds and insistent questioning of the religious leaders. The dust in her mouth mingles with the blood lust pulsing in the early morning air. Has she heard of Jesus? Does she know who he is? John doesn’t tell us. But thousands of years later, readers will witness the adulteress witnessing her Savior.
Jesus stoops down beside her. Rather than reach for a rock, he pushes his finger into the sand. Slowly, he arcs his drawn line around her, encircling her weeping form with an imaginary frame… Outlining the guilty target with a bull’s-eye “o.” He finishes the task, and straightens. The message is now clear. His point has been made- she is the target. Jesus pauses until the voices fall silent. All wait to hear his condemnation. “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Protectively, the woman curls up even tighter. Readies for the first blow. Wishes without hope that somehow, somewhere, someone will defend her defenseless case.
Jesus crouches before the crowd; once more, his finger digs into the sand. His finger moves in a straight pattern as he draws a line between the onlookers and woman. When finished, he rises and moves to the woman’s other side… He crouches before her accusers. Again, he dips his finger into the sand and draws. A straight line. A boundary.
The crowd quiets. The accusers’ questions cease. The lowly Teacher waits. He knows what they see in their own hearts. “One by one,” John tells us, “beginning with the older men,” they start to leave. Eventually, only Jesus and the adulteress and the figures drawn in the sand remain. The Master rises and speaks once more.
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
The adulteress raises her tear-stained face and with a dirt-stained heart answers, “No one, Lord.”
Jesus nods. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
Brushing off the dirt of the Temple, the woman rises. Wrapping her new understanding of love and forgiveness about her, she looks once more into the face of her Savior and leaves.
Jesus remains alone. Beside him, the rigid walls of the Temple soar into the sky. Below his feet, the dirt of the courtyard stains his calloused feet. In front of him, he sees his imprint on the world. Crudely finger-carved into the sand, a long vertical line “l”, a round “o,” a long vertical line “l”. lol… Life over legalism.
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