Mercy

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 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. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” (John 8:1-11)

First, let’s remember this passage is found in the Gospel according to John.  John made it clear that Jesus was the Word of God.  According to our Bible: “The prologue [in John] proclaims Jesus as the preexistent and incarnate Word of God who has revealed the Father to us.”  Recall in John 1:3 it reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.”

Here is a fascinating and educated, faith-filled guess about what Jesus wrote on the ground.  It was written by Dr. David Kyle Foster, host of the Pure Passion Podcast and author of Transformed Into His Image and Love Hunger. He began his offered opinion with this passage from Jeremiah (17:13): "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." 

(begin) I would like to offer that this passage seems to indicate that Jesus first wrote their names in the dust and perhaps then wrote a sin that they had committed next to their name.

Busted by Jesus, they walked away in shame and frustration. You see, being Yahweh, He knew what was in their hearts. (See 1 Chronicles 28:9; Matthew 12:25; 22:18; John 2:25; 1 Corinthians 14:25).

According to the Venerable Bede, (as well as St. Augustine), when Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger, He was harkening back to the time on Mt Sinai when He had written the Ten Commandments on stone tablets with His finger (Exodus 32:15-16). In other words, the same finger that had written the Law back then was also the finger that was writing on the ground now.

Therefore, since He was the author of the Law, He was the One to properly interpret and execute it (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). Additionally, being the One who was soon to receive the penalty for the sins of the adulterous woman upon Himself, He had every right to extend grace and mercy to her.

It is interesting to note that in Luke 11:20, Jesus referred to the “finger of God” when He drove the demon out of a man who could not speak. The crowd had accused Him of driving the demon out by the power of Beelzebub—the prince of demons.

In response, and for those with eyes to see it, Jesus’ “finger of God” language indicated that He was the same God who wrote the Law on the stone tablets and was therefore God Himself.

We should note that because God had created man “out of the dust” (Genesis 2:7) and since He had come to “write the law on people’s hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33; Psalm 37:31; Romans 2:14-15; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10; 10:16), it is likely that when he wrote on the ground that day in the presence of the scribes and Pharisees, He had in a sense, written the supreme call to mercy (my emphasis). In the dust he sends the message that those who refuse mercy will not receive mercy (James 2:12-13), and, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). 

That allows us to circle back to see one final message to the Pharisees: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (Matthew 7:1) That is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law. 

You are a letter from Christ....written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3) (end)

Dr. Foster clearly references Jesus as “God,” a reference that is entirely appropriate in the context of the Gospel of John and our Catholic Creed, as well as our definition of the Trinity.

Deacon David Pierce