To: Whosoever Will

Love Letters in the Sand

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set [histemi,Gr. to stand] her in the midst,” John 8:3. “and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” John 8:9. (At the beginning, we see the woman standing in the presence of Jesus; and in the midst of the scribes and Pharisees. After their disappearance she continued to stand in the midst; in the Presence of the Lord!)

“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 saith 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” John 8:4-6.

In light of their “righteous judgment,” appropriate would be the words of our Lord spoken to them earlier in John chapter five! “Do not think that I will not accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:45-47.

“But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground” John 8:6. (In a stooped position one would not think to be able to exert much pressure in writing on the ground; the soil or sand therefore must be soft.)

That Jesus wrote on the ground in view of all that were present infers that this was not a private but an open letter. Though we do not know the context of His writing, we may rightly assume that it was addressed to ‘Whosoever will’ or ‘Whosoever believeth!’

But Jesus stooped down, and wrote with his finger on the ground, as though he heard them not” John 8:6. But it was they who would not hear Jesus.

But “they continued asking him” in total disregard of what the finger of God was writing: they cared not for (that’s far too soft: despised) His Word: they were, if anything, frustrated by His seeming abandonment to what they were saying; so feverishly intent they were to accuse Him.

“He lifted himself up, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. . .And when they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience [and saw it; the writing of the finger of Christ on the ground] went out” John 8:7,9. They fled from the Presence of the Light into the darkness of the morning sun! “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” John 3:19.

The verse in between says, “And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.” Jesus wrote twice. Perchance the first writing was to the scribes and Pharisees; a message of impending judgment if they refused to repent; and was not the second message to the woman, (not to the scribes and Pharisees, as they were hastily departing!) a message of no condemnation, of forgiveness; of deliverance and cleansing from her sin? To the woman it may have been what Donald Grey Barnhouse would have termed an ‘effectual calling.’

Jesus’ Word is never ‘written in vain,’ it never ‘returns void.’ Shall we suppose the woman to have been ‘looking unto Jesus,’ being drawn of the Spirit to read what He was writing? Whatever it was, it must have done more than spark the identification of His Person: “He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, LORD.

I somehow sense this woman, a guilty sinner, standing before the Christ in whose hands is all authority and judgment. Shall He condemn her? Is judgment to be passed? Is she to be stoned? Nevertheless she will entrust her destiny into His hands; He is a Just God. She stands before Him “Just as I am, without one plea. . .Oh, Lamb of God I come to Thee.”

“And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I [ I AM? ] condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” I perceive that He wrote, not only on the ground, but upon her heart. Could this adulterous woman not picture adulterous Israel (as would be an example that is consistent with many other scriptures?) “For this covenant that I make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind and will write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. . . For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” Heb. 8:10,12.

Neither do I condemn thee. “He that believeth on him is not condemned [the woman]: but he that believeth not [the scribes and Pharisees] is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” John 3:18.

If she is not condemned, then what? To be not condemned only does not constitute salvation. There is no ‘Halfway House’ or Purgatory as some would have us believe. “God. . .hath spoken unto us by His Son. . .when He had by Himself purged our sins” Hebrews chapter one. Though not recorded as such, what if Jesus wrote, Thy sins be forgiven thee: Who but the Lord God can forgive sin? Did she not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God?

One who is not condemned is found to be ‘not guilty’ in a court of law. One who is guilty yet not condemned must needs be forgiven; and that by the propitiation of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins. . .that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” Rom. 3:24-26.

“Go, and sin no more.” “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken [or written] unto you” John 15:3. It is unthinkable to suppose that Jesus might send this woman on her way while yet bearing the heavy load of sin, with instructions to ‘go and sin no more!’ We, as this woman, stood one day in the guilt of our sin in the presence of the Saviour! By faith (and His Eternal Faithfulness) we remain in His abiding Presence, cleansed, forgiven, justified, clothed in the purity of His imputed Righteousness!

A closing thought: Paul speaks unto us of love letters (written not in the sand but in the heart:) “Ye are our epistle [letter] written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle [letter] of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart” II Cor. 3:2,3.

The God of Creation formed heaven and earth, and with His finger signed His magnificent work. Thus were the mountains brought upward and the valleys brought low. His finger wrote commandments upon tablets of stone; it wrote upon the wall of king’s palaces: now it is seen written upon the ground. But what is not seen is His signature written upon His New Creation: the hearts of those whom He has redeemed!