Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, He said to her, " Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, Lord," she answered. "Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus. "Go, and from now on do not sin anymore."
- John 8:8-11
Among scholars, there is the ongoing dispute over what Jesus may or may not have written in the sand in this moment. We also are left wondering what Jesus wrote or said that would have all of this woman’s accusers drop their stones and walk away.
I don’t know that it really matters much what was written or said; because there is a much more important lesson in this story. Those who accused this woman, didn’t have the authority to do so, because they were only half-following the law anyway. The law would have said that both this woman and the man would have been put on trial, judged and stoned. But the man is not present. Furthermore, this whole thing is said to be a trap to accuse Jesus of some kind of blasphemy or false teaching. However, the acts of Jesus was to show mercy, and in mercy there is no need of judgement.
The kindness that Jesus shows to the unnamed woman shows us the deep nature of God’s mercy and kindness for the world. Jesus doesn’t say a word in this entire scene until all the accusers leave, then he simply asks this woman if anyone still condemns her. Since no one else does, Jesus says “neither do I condemn…go and sin no more.”
I love this kind of mercy, it’s like the mercy we offer to a child, when they do something wrong. We sit them on our lap, talk about what happened, and then after drying remorseful tears we say, “it’s ok, don’t do it again.” If Jesus does not bring condemnation, but mercy, grace, and kindness instead, then that should be our response to others as well. For we believe that God took care of all of it on the cross, so that we might be free, forgiven to show that kind of loving kindness to others in Jesus name.
Grace & Peace,
Sam