Jesus came to the Temple in the early morning. A large crowd of people came to him so that he could teach them. This made the scribes and Pharisees angry. They were always trying to find a way to trick Jesus.
On this particular morning, the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman who had been caught in a terrible sin. They put the woman in the middle of the crowd and ask Jesus what he would do with the woman. They correctly point out that the Law stated she was to be put to death. But they were not really interested in the Law. If they were, they would have brought the man who was involved with the sin.
As we read about this episode in John 8:1-11, we read that Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. The scribes and Pharisees continued asking him what to do with the woman. Jesus tells them that the one who did not have sin should cast the first stone. Then he went back to his finger writing on the ground.
The scribes and Pharisees were convicted by their own consciences and slowly all of them left. Jesus then told the woman to go and sin no more. Jesus knew that the scribes and Pharisees were not concerned for the Law. They only wanted to try to make him look silly in the sight of all those who were there to be taught by him.
What did Jesus write on the ground? We really do not know. But in Jeremiah 17:13, we read, “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” It is possible that Jesus was writing this verse and the names of the scribes and Pharisees that were present. We do know that Jesus made the scribes and Pharisees ashamed of themselves and in the sight of others on this occasion.
I know that you want to follow Jesus. Do not be one of the ashamed that depart from him and his teaching. Do not be one of those who has his name ‘written in the earth.’ Keep reading your Bible. Study it as much as you can. Obey all of the commands. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
