My readings recently have been in John’s gospel. In the first chapter Jesus the living Word is introduced as God himself, the one who brings life to us and his transforming grace. Later in the gospel we see how Jesus works that out in practice.
At the start of John chapter eight, we see the Pharisees bringing to Jesus a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Adultery was a serious sin forbidden by God and written for total clarity on tablets of stone by him stones written by God’s own finger. The Pharisees said ‘Moses’ law said we should stone her, let her be crushed under the weight of the stone of the law, what do you say, Jesus of Nazareth?’
Jesus’ bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. He told them to go ahead stone her starting with the one who is without sin. Then he went back to writing as the Pharisees sneaked away quietly. What was he writing? John doesn’t tell us. But we do know that Jesus was there when the tablets were written, He is the one who, with the Father and the Spirit, wrote with his finger the original commandments. He knew the penalty well enough. Yes and as he writes on the ground, he writes a new commandment which takes the penalty and brings life to this woman.
I wonder what he wrote for her? Perhaps he wrote ‘life’ or ‘mercy’ or ‘clean’. He is God, the one who alone had the right to condemn but chose not to, but to underwrite, to guarantee her life. He is the sinless one who chose not to throw the first stone. He the one chose to write life for her when death was what she deserved. It would cost him everything but he chose to do that for her and her life was transformed.
I wonder what one word would you like him to write under your life as you study the Bible? Life? Hope? Joy? Mercy? What would transform you? What is the word you need to see written under your life? God himself is ready to write under your life as you study his word.
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