by the Very Rev. Jered Weber-Johnson
Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
John 8:1–11
Jesus stoops to write in the dirt, not once but twice. Some scholars and preachers posit that he wrote out the sins of each of the men standing there, stones in hand, accusations in their throats. By divine inspiration, or perhaps just common knowledge, Jesus was able to convict each accuser of the hypocrisy of their cause. That would indeed be clever and give me no small amount of schadenfreude as an onlooker to this biblical story. After all, who doesn’t yearn, ever so slightly (or ever so much) to see the hypocrites shamed into silence and retreat?
But, part of me hesitates at this interpretation. Does Jesus use shame as a tool in his ministry of reconciliation? I wonder if his pausing to doodle in the sand was just that, a pause…a long silence? What if he wrote a poem, or drew a picture, added a little beauty, created space, waited, and listened to the birds chirping? After all, when accusations and anger rise in me, when I am all set to be righteous and attack, I know for certain God’s grace is most often known in pausing, breathing, taking stock, and listening to the beauty of creation.
Sweet Black-eyed Susan – Rudbeckia subtomentosa
These photographs, shared each day during Lent, capture the beauty of plants native to the Upper Midwest. As we spend time in Lenten reflection, these images of new life can remind us daily of our calling to be caretakers of God’s Creation.
Photo by Jo Anna Hebberger
