He Wrote Twice

I think this next passage is so unique and meaningful...

"The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. 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.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' " - John 8:3-11 ESV

You can just picture the religious taunts of the people seeking to bait Jesus as He serenely writes in the dust. Jesus wrote twice and it always makes me think of Moses and the two sets of tablets given to Israel.

"And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God." - Exodus 31:18 ESV

"But he said, 'It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.' And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain." - Exodus 32:18-19 ESV

"So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.' And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped." - Exodus 34:4-8 ESV

"For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." - Romans 10:3-4 ESV

Moses had a sense of outrage when he smashed the first set of tablets but we don't see that same outrage in Jesus. He has compassion and awareness.

Christ is the 'end of the law'. Wow. That road should bring us to a place where we see Jesus and want Him.

I like that Jesus didn't pound them with words. He just quietly wrote in the dust. He never directly addressed their accusations. He didn't react.

God, Please give us this heart and mind. Let this be what we express. Compassion without compromise. Love. Thank you for sending Your Son. He Is just what we need in every way.

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