Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
They confronted Him with the truth…
they confronted Him with the Law.
Now they would see. Would He obey it?
“But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger…”
To this day it remains a mystery. We don’t know what He wrote. But we do know this…that finger had written before.
And He gave unto Moses…tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Yes, once again, the finger of God wrote. And although we’re not told, could it be He wrote what He’d written before? What He’d written with His finger before… on those tables of stone?
Maybe by what He wrote He did what these scribes and Pharisees, these “teachers of the Law” had done when they’d come to Him. Maybe…
He confronted them
with the truth….
He confronted them
with the Law.
Now they would see. Had they obeyed it?
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
One by one they left, confronted with the truth…of their own sin.
Yes, I’m convinced that, once again, God’s finger wrote truth.
When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” She said, “No man, Lord”. And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee…
Oh the glory, the overwhelming goodness of grace! She was shown mercy. He had ministered grace…the grace of no condemnation.
But what about truth? What about that truth written by the finger of God? What about the Law? Does grace compromise truth?
With this adulteress, did Jesus end with “neither do I condemn you”? No, He went on. He went on to say,
“Go and sin no more.”
He confronted her
with the truth.
He confronted her
with the Law
…the Law that said adultery was sin.
No, Jesus didn’t deny the truth. He didn’t show grace at the expense of truth for grace never lowers truth’s demands. But Jesus knew something. He knew that the Law demands but it does not provide the power to meet those demands. Only grace does that. The grace of no condemnation is the power to sin no more. Yes, Jesus knew that grace makes possible what truth demands.
And He knew something else too. He knew that the Law He had written thousands of years before and just possibly then, in the presence of this woman and her accusers…He knew He would write it again. But this time it would not be written on the stone tablets of Mount Sinai or on the dusty ground of Judea. No, He knew that when He wrote it again, this time He would write it on human hearts. Hearts that had been softened by the ultimate truth…the truth of His amazing, empowering grace.
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
Never before has a post been so closely related to mine that it brings me to tears. Related in that you have explained exactly the grace which I wrote of in my own post. Thank you for sharing your words it was written beautifully.
Isn’t that great? Our experiences are so diverse, but God’s grace applies to every single situation. Thanks for your kind words. I’ll be running over to your blog right away.
Dear Lisa,
This is an excellent study…some meat to chew on. I especially liked this: “He didn’t show grace at the expense of truth for grace never lowers truth’s demands. The grace of no condemnation is the power to sin no more. Yes, Jesus knew that grace makes possible what truth demands.”
You are gifted and thank you for sharing with your readings the truth that you gleaned from your study of this passage.
Lord bless…Susan
Thank so much, Susan! What an encouragement this is to me. I appreciate it more than you know. Trust me, I chew on it too…constantly. Blessings back to you.
Thank you. I’m planning to read this again and sit with it. Have good evening.
Stopping by from Five Minute Friday.
Thanks for stopping by, Elle. I’ll return the visit on the morrow. Good night to you too.
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” —Jeremiah 31:33-34
Jesus wrote the words on her heart that day—words of forgiveness. God bless, and thanks for visiting my blog!
David,
Oh Yes! How we rejoice in this new covenant that Jeremiah prophesied, that Jesus pictured in Luke 22, and the writer of Hebrews expounded in Hebrews 8 and 9. “Behold, days are coming…”, said God, and at the shedding of the precious blood of Jesus…those days arrived! Blessings to you.
I enjoyed this immensely. It made me think of this passage a little more clearly. I never thought of this before, so I am so glad you shared it: “the Law demands but it does not provide the power to meet those demands. Only grace does that.” That is powerful truth. Thank you for sharing this post.
Candice, I’m so glad you enjoyed this. I enjoy the truth of the power of grace every…single…day. It was a long hard struggle getting there, but thank God He got through to my tired of trying self! 🙂 Now this truth pops up no matter what I attempt to write. I’m so one track. 🙂 My entire blog seems to never veer far from this topic. Thanks for visiting!
Balanced and beautiful! We think alike (though, you definitely expressed what I was thinking more clearly…) <3
Thanks so much for stopping by. We expressed it differently, with our own perspective and gifting. It’s what makes the body so amazing.
Lisa, this is absolutely beautiful. And so very convicting. I love your writing and I love your considerations of that moment. This has long been one of my favorite moments in Scripture, Jesus writing in the dust, and I just love what you’ve included as part of that moment. The way that you have considered the truth written by God’s finger.
I will definitely be finding my way back to your blog. I love your thought process and your writing and the challenge of something new to consider.
Oh, Judith…you have blessed me so with your kind words! I love this moment too. It’s truly a moving, humbling picture of what we have all experienced as a result of His abundant mercy. Isn’t He so wonderful? Thanks so much for visiting and for you thoughtful encouragement. It’s wonderful to meet you.
Without truth we’re in a muddled mess of doing everything the way we think is right or the way we selfishly want. Without grace we are lost in our sins.
Love your thoughts! I wrote about this Bible lesson in a post here… http://www.adelightfulglow.com/2012/10/everyone-needs-compassion/
There are so many lessons and food for thought in Jesus’ lessons and Bible stories.
Thanks for stopping by, Deborah. Yes, God’s Word is so rich. I love how I can glean something new from the very same passage or story no matter how many times I read it. I enjoyed reading your post on compassion. It’s so fun to see each others’ thoughts on the same story or word. It’s what makes FMF so interesting.
Ok, earlier you commented on my post how weird it was that we both wrote on Grace and truth. To take it one step further…if you watch the sermon my post linked to, it covers this EXACT PASSAGE, much the same way you did! Curiouser and curiouser. 🙂
Thanks for the visit!
Well that’s just crazy. Can’t wait to take a look. Don’t be surprised to hear from me again. 🙂 Blessings to you