| Jesus Stooped Down and Wrote |
by David A. DePra |
| And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And |
| they had set her in the midst, They say unto Him, "Master, this woman was taken in |
| adultery; in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be |
| stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to |
| accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as |
| though he heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, |
| and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. |
| And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, |
| being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the |
| eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the |
| the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said |
| unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Has no man condemned thee? |
| She said, "No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, |
| and sin no more." |
| Jesus knew that when the Pharisees brought this woman to Him |
| that it was not for the sake of justice. It was to test Him. They figured |
| that they had Him this time. He had taught much about forgiveness. |
| Now they had a sinner standing before Him. He'd either have to |
| condemn her, as the law demanded, or renounce the law. |
| So here was Jesus, who had preached forgiveness and mercy. |
| The Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in the very act of |
| adultery. The law demanded she must be stoned. "But," the |
| Pharisees ask, "What do YOU say?" |
| Jesus did not answer. What did He do? "But Jesus stooped |
| down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard |
| them not." |
| "As though He heard them not?." How many times in our walk |
| with Jesus does it seem as if He is acting towards us that way? |
| He acts as if He heard us not. |
| Why? Not because He is ignoring us. Not because He is |
| indifferent. No. He must act that way because we are asking the |
| wrong question. In other words, we don't need an answer. Our |
| problem is expressed through our question itself. Our question |
| shows that WE have a problem which goes much deeper than the |
| answer we think we need can possibly solve. |
| We must never forget that Jesus loved the Pharisees. Sure, the |
| condition of their hearts angered Him. But it was not anger which |
| was against them. It was anger which was FOR them. Jesus |
| wanted them free. But they refused to hear the Truth. |
| So Jesus did not answer. He stooped down, and with his |
| finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. Ever |
| wonder what He wrote? |
| Some have suggested that Jesus wrote out the sins of the |
| Pharisees on the ground. But perhaps we are missing the point |
| with that theory. Could it be that the FACT He wrote was the |
| important thing, rather than WHAT was being written? |
| There is a great symbolism which Jesus is illustrating in this |
| situation. When the woman is accused, and Jesus is confronted |
| with her sin, the Pharisees demand of Him an answer. But rather |
| than answer them immediately with words, Jesus STOOPS down |
| and WRITES on the GROUND as if He heard them not. The FACT |
| that He stooped down and wrote IS His answer. |
| What is He illustrating? Well, He IS answering them. He is |
| showing them, by His actions, the solution to their charges. He is |
| picturing the fact that He has stooped down to the ground -- the |
| earth -- the earth which is US. He has become one of us. And |
| having become one of us, He is writing something IN the earth -- |
| the "earth" that WE ARE. In the earth that HE became. And what |
| was He writing? The law of God personified. The Truth of God |
| articulated. And then He "wrote" the fullfillment of the demands of |
| the law: He died. |
| The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He took upon |
| Himself our human nature and through it wrote a living message |
| IN flesh which fullfilled all the will of God. And then He died. All of |
| that was the law of God written in flesh and fullfilled. |
| This was Jesus' answer to those who would bring the sinner |
| before Him. It was His answer to those who would use God's law |
| -- not to point people to Christ -- but to condemn them. He was |
| saying by His actions, "Here is My answer. I am writing on this |
| ground, on this earth, in this dust, a message. It is a living |
| message. I am writing it because YOU can't write it. I am doing it |
| for you. I have become the perfect man. The perfect Lamb of |
| God. I am God in the flesh. And as such, I am going to die. I am |
| going to be brought down to the depths of the earth; lower than |
| any sinner could ever be brought." |
| What a message to be written in the dust of the ground -- the |
| same dust from which Adam was formed! Jesus stooped down, |
| and with His finger wrote on the ground. He wrote a message by |
| His perfect life and His perfect death which was the answer for all |
| those condemned by the law. |
| The story doesn't end there. Despite the fact that Jesus had |
| written on the ground, "They continued asking Him." So, "He lifted |
| up himself, and said unto them, 'he that is without sin among you, |
| let him first cast a stone at her.'" |
| Jesus became one of us. He partook of OUR nature, of OUR |
| dust. And in our dust He wrote a perfect message. He did so by |
| both His earthly life and then His death. But then it was finished. |
| He had completed His message. He had done all the will of His |
| Father as a man. THEN He arose. |
| Once "It is finished," Jesus arose. He is then able to say, "Let |
| he that is without sin first cast a stone at her." He is able to say |
| this now because through His resurrection things are on a different |
| basis. Everyone is on level ground at the foot of His Cross -- |
| because of His finished work. He is done writing. It is finished. |
| Amazingly, the Pharisees weren't yet convicted. They |
| continued to press Him -- despite His words. So what did Jesus |
| do? "And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And |
| they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, |
| went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even imto the last." |
| Note that they only "heard it" and were "convicted" once Jesus |
| "stooped down" for the second time, and once again wrote on the |
| ground. Why? And what is this second 'stooping down?" |
| Jesus stooped down the first time and wrote a living message |
| in flesh -- through His perfect life, and then, by His death. Then |
| He arose. But then He stooped down a second time. When? |
| How? By coming to dwell in US. Through the Holy Spirit Jesus |
| now lives in us, and is writing in our flesh -- our dust -- the same |
| message He wrote in His. |
| It is then that we HEAR what He has to say. It is then that we |
| are convicted of our OWN sin. It is then that we begin to see that |
| we need the grace of God, and stop using the law to condemn |
| ourselves and others. |
| The result? "Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in |
| the midst. 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: go, |
| and sin no more." |
| Once we are convicted of sin, Jesus again lifts Himself UP, by |
| showing Himself as the solution for our sin. And if we believe and |
| embrace Him, we are lifted up -- raised up -- with Him. The result |
| is that all of those who would accuse us are silenced. There is |
| therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. |
| We are raised with Him unto newness of life. |
| It is at this point that Jesus tells us, "I do not condemn you. Go |
| and sin no more." His finished work makes that statement |
| possible. For it is only through His stooping and being raised up |
| that we are set free from the law, and left alone with Jesus and His |
| grace. |