By: Rev. David Wilson Rogers
The case was a simple open-and-shut decision. “Guilty as charged!” There was no escaping the reality that the law had been broken and, quite understandably, the people wanted justice. In response, Jesus wrote in the dirt. What Jesus wrote will never be known. The Bible does not say. Yet, by saying little and writing some unknown statement in the soil, Jesus spoke volumes!
The law was very clear in both its pronouncement and punishment. Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 were very clear. She was not where she should have been, she had violated the law, and the consequences absolute. In upholding and claiming the full authority of the law, the people demanded justice and were poised to carry out their legal rights.
Law is important—in fact, vital to maintaining order and decency in human society and circumventing the law is a serious matter. In John 8:1-11, those tasked with upholding and enforcing the law presented Jesus with a serious legal challenge by bringing a guilty woman before him for judgment. Yet, there was a problem. Justice was not their primary concern.
The motivation behind this contentious encounter between Jesus and the legal authorities was malicious rather than judicious. The scribes and Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. In other words, they wanted to set him up for failure and use the law as a weapon against him. The test, however, would turn out to be against them. In referencing the Law of Moses, the religious authorities correctly claimed that this adulterous woman should have been stoned for her crime. This particularly brutal death sentence was both humiliating and torturous as an angry mob would cast rocks and stones at the criminal until the cumulative damage of the pummeling resulted in death. The law required it.
The law required more than just her execution under the sin of adultery. The man with whom she were engaged in sinful sexual relations was also guilty and, under the terms of the law, must also be brought to account for his crime.
Notice, in the eighth chapter of John, no such adulterer is ever mentioned. Was he quietly present in the crowd? In trying to save face or protect his own standing in society, did he perhaps have a stone in his hand ready to unleash a raging fury against this woman? Was he hiding in the shadows secretly hoping that something different would happen? The Bible never says. Yet, his conspicuous absence from the story is very relevant. So, in response, Jesus bends down and writes in the dirt with his finger.
Perhaps he was pausing for dramatic effect. Perhaps he wanted to pray and seek God’s insight on the matter. Perhaps he was simply waiting for the hypocrisy of the crowd to bubble to the surface and be its own conviction. Then, after a time, Jesus spoke. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in Mathew 5:17-20, Jesus set the tone for the encounter with the scribes, Pharisees and sinful adulteress. He said that he would not abolish the law, but fulfill and complete it. In exemplifying that claim, Jesus speaks. He tells them that the one among them who is without sin has his permission to begin the execution process. When nobody dares come forward, Jesus forgives the woman and restores her humanity.
The law can be used to control and punish, or it can be respect to honor and uphold human dignity. In using law to have power and authority over people, the law becomes sin. To be complete, however, the law must be upheld only as it gives life and empowers the full humanity of all.
