What did Jesus Write in the Sand?

The Adulterous Woman

 ¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  ²Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.
 ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,
 ⁴they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.
 ⁵"Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?"
 ⁶They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.
 ⁷But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
 ⁸Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
 ⁹When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.
 ¹⁰Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"
 ¹¹She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."
John 8:1-11 (NASB)

"For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to one day die for her sins.  Forgiveness is free but it is not cheap."  (W. Weirsbe)  What did He write on the ground?  I feel certain that whatever He wrote had a great deal to do with the fact that they, one by one, left  the center of the court where they had so adamantly condemned her. I am also certain that Jesus had a purpose in this.  Was He writing their sins in the dust?    Was He reminding them of the Ten Commandments written by the hand of God as it says in Exodus 31:18?  Or was He writing their names, reminding them of the warning in Jeremiah 17:13 which says, "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water"?  (NIV)  Was He implying that they, themselves, were the ones prophesied about as those who forsook  Him and that He, Himself, is the spring of living water which He states in John 4:10-14 (NIV).

"Go, and sin no more!"  Jesus said.  This freely given forgiveness will never be an excuse to sin.  We are to repent and turn away from our sins, not repeating them again.  In Psalm 130:4 it says,  "If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance?  As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped."  (The Message)  "God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8 (NASB)

Many think that this woman was set up by the scribes and the Pharisees and being that the man she must have been with was not there also, for the law calls for both to be stoned, it seems to confirm the thought that they must have orchestrated the event which would be, of course, against God's law.  They were definitely trying to trick Jesus into a controversial situation, into something they could use against Him.  The law demanded stoning but if Jesus allowed her to be stoned, many of his followers who were the weak, sinful, and poor, would have felt abandoned by Him since He said, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."  Luke 19:10 (ESV)  But if He were to prevent her from being stoned, He would be going against the law of Moses.  Jesus, of course, cannot be tricked and knew the exact intentions of their hearts even before they brought the woman before Him.  Whatever He wrote in the dirt, in combination with His statement, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," was enough to send them away in disgrace.  Could it have been their sins or their names?  Or was He just giving them time for the words He had spoken to sink in and do their work?

Do you give Jesus' words time to sink in and do their work?  Do you try to convince yourself that you are too busy or too important or too tired to spend time in His presence?  Do you rationalize your lack of devotion?  Is Jesus writing your name in the sand?

Dear Lord,  Make us a people who forgive as You forgive.  Make us a people who hear Your word and let it sink in and do its work.  Let us not trick ourselves into a life without Christ...