‘Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”’ (John 8:6-7 ESV).
When the religious leaders brought a woman accused of adultery before Jesus in order to entrap him, he stooped down and wrote in the dust of the ground with his finger. Finally, he answered, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” Then, he stooped down again to write in the dust once more.
Many have speculated as to what Jesus wrote. Did he merely draw doodles in the dust as many a bored student has done in the margin of their notebook? Did he begin to list the sins of each accuser, so that they lost heart and beginning with the oldest, dropped their stones and departed? Truth is, no one knows what he wrote.
Certainly, more words have been penned and books written about Jesus than any other subject. Yet, this is the only record of His writing: “Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust.”
Yet isn’t this what the Author of Life has done for you and I? He “bent down” from heaven to earth to erase our sin and write his righteousness in its place. For we are the dust He has breathed new life into, making us born again and writing our names in the Book of Life.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we don’t know what Jesus wrote in the dust, but we do know that because of Him, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Because of Him we are no longer condemned, but counted righteous before You. We give You thanks for so great a salvation. In Jesus’ name, amen.