The Words Jesus Wrote

The Words Jesus Wrote
2 Samuel 13:1-20; John 8:1-11 ESV
A sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer on Feb. 9, 2020
“But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger.” ~John 8:6 GNT

There have been thousands of books written about Jesus of Nazareth.  But have you ever wondered about what Jesus himself may have actually written?  Well, the passage read from John recounts the only words that Jesus is known to have written.  And if you have studied the Bible, then you may already know that this story of the woman caught in adultery is only recorded in John’s gospel.  And furthermore, the story is not included in some of the earliest available Greek manuscripts. 
However, with that having been said, the story certainly is in harmony with other accounts in the gospels that are sympathetic to women, and it is in keeping with the character of Jesus and how he related to others, especially women, as portrayed in other places in John and especially the gospel of Luke as well.  And I will have to admit that this story is one of my favorite stories found in the Gospel of John.
 And John says, Jesus “wrote on the ground with his finger.”  Again, the only words Jesus is recorded as having written in the dirt.  But wouldn’t you like to know what those words were that Jesus wrote in the dirt?  We can only speculate.  But more about that later.
The focus of the story, of course, is a woman caught in in the act of adultery.  Now, there are a number of bullet points about this story worthy pondering:
·      Such as, the woman in question is being used as a pawn by her accusers, nothing more.  John is clear in stating that Jesus’ adversaries used the situation “to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him,” based upon how he responded in relation to Jewish Law.  They cared nothing for the woman as a person of worth; all they were concerned with was their own selfish agenda.  She was a pawn.
·      We are left wondering, Where was the man with whom the woman was caught in the act of adultery?  Why was the man not brought before Jesus as well?  Was the man not just as “guilty” as the woman?  Jewish Law held that he was.  But where was he?
·      Such leads to the next thought to ponder, that regardless of the circumstances, women are often the accused ones, even when they are the victims.  We all know that it is an all too-common practice to blame the victim.  We see it in the news all the time.  Statements such as, “Well, she shouldn’t have been where she was at the time,” or “It was her fault because of what she was wearing,” or “She must have seduced him,” or the one that has been in the news of late, “It was consensual.”  Such statements shift the blame from the perpetrator to the victim.  We can only hope that sensational cases in the news the past few months – most namely the Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein sagas – are forcing society to take a closer look at the abuses of and inequalities and injustices committed against women. 
·      The deplorable actions of Epstein and Weinstein are reminiscent of the actions of Amnon in the ancient story of Tamar and King David’s son Amnon, as recorded in 2 Samuel 13.  Amnon used trickery and deception to get his half sister Tamar alone with him in a secluded location.  And then when the two were alone and she had no way of escape, he forced himself upon her while she was screaming for him to stop.  As soon as Amnon had had his way with Tamar, he began to despise her and ordered her to leave.  To her credit, Tamar did not let the crime go unnoticed; she let it be known what Amnon had done to her.  Nevertheless, the damage had been done, both physically and emotionally.  Not only had Tamar lost her virginity and felt disgraced in the eyes of the community, but she lived in seclusion, “a desolate woman” (ESV), “sad and lonely” (2 Samuel 13:20).  Well, if you want to know the rest of the story, you will have to read the 13th chapter of 2 Samuel.  But the short of it is it did not end well for Amnon because of his dastardly deed to his half sister.
·      But back to John’s story; a point that is not mentioned, but I believe is somewhat related, is the fact that for millennia some women – not all, but some – have had to resort to prostitution (and sometimes adultery) in order to survive and, as such, perhaps, deserve sympathy instead of condemnation.  Often women who have lost their husbands, being left with no way to support themselves and possibly their children, have felt forced to resort to earning a living with the only resource they have had – their bodies.  And as such, they have been looked down upon and condemned and oftentimes prosecuted, while the men who have engaged their services have gone free.  Country singer Merle Haggard recorded a song about one such mother who resorted to prostitution to make ends meet after her husband ran off with another woman.  Haggard sang:
·      Oh, the path was deep and wide
From footsteps leading to our cabin
Above the door there burned a scarlet lamp
And late at night a hand would knock
And there would stand a stranger
Yes, I'm the son of Hickory Holler's tramp. 
But rather than feeling ashamed of his mother for her actions, the speaker in the song is proud of her for doing what she felt she had to do in order to provide for her family.
·      In Luke’s gospel, especially, Jesus is depicted as being sympathetic to women who had previously lived checkered lives in order to survive.  It is likely that some former prostitutes were among his closest followers.
·      And as I noted in a sermon a few weeks ago about human trafficking, in many cases women who are engaged in prostitution do so not by their own choice but because they were deceived, perhaps coming to America because they had been promised work, when in reality they were immediately forced into sexual slavery from which they cannot escape.  Or they were teenage runaways fleeing an abusive situation who were kidnapped or deceived by pimps who promised them a better life.  We have no idea what horrific things go on in the hidden underworld of organized crime and how many are forced to do things they would not do if they had a choice.
So, if John’s story evokes anything from us, I submit that it should at least cause us to stop and think, and we should be moved to say with Jesus, in some cases at least, “Neither do I condemn you, because I have not walked a mile in your shoes.”
You see, as is often the case in life, we don’t know the back story of people and their circumstances and why they do what they do.  Perhaps the woman brought to Jesus was desperate, trying to survive in a cruel world, maybe trying to provide for her children.
But let’s return to those words Jesus wrote on the ground.  Again, we can only speculate about what the words were that he wrote.  But in keeping with his teachings and actions as a whole in the gospels, perhaps Jesus could have written, “judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 7:37).  Or maybe Jesus could have written, “Do not use people for your own selfish agenda!”
But the primary point Jesus sought to make – and if we don’t take anything else home with us from the sermon, let’s take this – is none are sin-free.  All are flawed and in need of saving grace.  And that being the case, we do well to keep our stones to ourselves. Amen.

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