Writing in the Sand; John 8

May the mumbling commence!

When we read the Holy Scriptures, do we ever what should be included or excluded?  The Jewish Torah doesn’t have all the books that our Old Testament has.  Even the books that the Old Testament and the Torah have in common are not in the same order. 

The Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha – or the hidden writings.  These books were not included in the Jewish Torah because they were written entirely and originally in Aramaic.  Protestant Bibles do not include the Apocrypha. 

And there are other gospels of Jesus Christ that were written besides Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The most talked about gospel in recent times is the gospel of Thomas.  Well, I write about these differences in the canon because of the passage from John that I wish to reflect on is not included in the earliest manuscripts of the gospel. 

Generally speaking, the older the manuscript the more reliable it is.  Most Bible translations have this passage with a note of caution.  The Scripture in question comes mostly from John chapter eight.  Read the passage below:

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 

"No one, sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (Verses 1-11)

I wonder what Jesus was writing in the sand.  We are not told.  But the trap is self-evident.  The Roman government refused Jews the power to perform executions, but the Law required that the woman be stoned to death.  If Jesus ordered the stoning, he would be in direct violation of Roman law.  If Jesus did not condone the stoning, he would be in direct violation of the Law of God.  Darned if you do, darned if you don’t.  So, what did Jesus write in the sand?

Maybe it was a Scripture verse.  Maybe that Scripture verse was Leviticus chapter twenty, verse ten.  Read the verse below:

“If a man commits adultery with another man's wife – with the wife of his neighbor – both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.”

Talk about what should and shouldn’t be included in the canon!  If find this questioned passage a little ironic.  Jesus may have called them on their oversight of the Law.  Both the adulterer – the man – and the adulteress – the woman must be put to death.  And the man is the first mentioned.  It takes two to tango!  Where was the man in this situation?  We are not told.  Was he among those in the crowd preparing to stone the woman?

Men had much more power in Jewish culture.  Sometimes, men would use their power and privilege to their advantage and forcefully commit adultery.  Maybe, when Jesus wrote in the sand a second time, he wrote the some of the sins that were represented in the crowd that was hungry for a stoning.  Maybe the crowd was knowingly protecting the man.

Before we stoop to pick up stones to judge others, may we look carefully at ourselves in the light of Scripture.  Let us own our complicity in the societal sins that we share in.  Let us judge with mercy.  And may we condemn sparingly. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out