Doodling in the dirt

John 8:1-11 tells the story about a woman brought before Jesus by the Pharisee's in order to entrap him between Roman civil law and the Mosaic law. Here is the text for your convenience:

1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

There are a few questions to ask oneself here. Where is Jesus at the moment? Who is he with? What is he doing? What do they call Jesus? Where's the "dude"? What is the extent of Roman law of the day versus the Mosaic Law? Was Jesus being indignant to them? What sin? What was he doodling in the dirt (speculation only)? Why did they leave? Who was left? What was she told to do? Here's my brief take on the whole deal. "All" the people here are those following and had interest in what Jesus had to say. He was busy teaching in the temple when rudely interrupted by these "ruling class lawyers" of the day. They plop the woman down among all the people gathered round about Jesus. I'm sure she was terrified and embarrassed. She is also surely not in the women's courtyard of the temple so she's the only woman surrounded by men. She surely wasn't treated very well at all on the way from wherever she had been taken from to the temple. Her clothes probably weren't intact and she was likely scrapped and beat up. Now, the last time I checked, it takes two to tango. Mosaic Law condemns ANYONE committing adultery. Man and woman. Where's the "dude"? One can only speculate here but it begs one to wonder why. Maybe it was a Pharisee himself unhappy with the outcome of this little escapade. We don't know. The absence of the partner in crime may very well explain the scenario better than if he were there. You can see the chauvinistic overtone of these accusers. The Pharisees addressed Jesus with the title "Master". This meaning "teacher" or Rabbi but not with any sense of respect at all. We also see that, continuing in the line of arrogance, they pose the question before addressing Jesus by title. I can just imagine the interruption being simultaneous with throwing this woman down. There certainly wouldn't be any missing the incident. Jesus, being always indignant to those who are self-serving, acts as if he didn't hear anything, bends down and doodles in the dirt. In that day, as is tradition even now, a judge would write his sentence down before declaring it vocally. I wonder. Now, let's make absolutely clear that speculation can lead into doctrinal paths that are way off in left field. With that in mind, I carefully contemplate what Jesus may have been writing. Was it "Hey everybody, watch this!"? During the Roman occupation, the Jews were given quite a bit of freedom. They were free to worship, self-rule and basically come and go as they please. One big caveat was capital punishment. The Romans did not allow capital punishment outside of the Roman court. This is why Jesus' death sentence was declared by the Roman prefect (magistrate) Pontius Pilate and not the "Roman-appointed" high priest, Caiaphas. (There is another long story here concerning the difference between lineage high priesthood and the "Roman-appointed" false-priesthood). So, verse 5 pits Jesus between agreeing with the Law of Moses, circumventing Roman law and conflicting his own teachings to his students or defying Jewish law and getting in hot water with the Sanhedrin (71 member "supreme court" of Jewish law). It seemed like a no-win situation. Jesus answered the question in historical fashion. Sure, go ahead. Stone her. But, as is the custom, whomever is without [this] sin, cast the first stone [you being the transgressed, she being the transgressor]. The Old Testament practice was that if you accused someone for a capital offense against you, you had to be prepared to throw the first stone as proper vindication. This is strong reference to the possibility of "this sin". So, again speculating, maybe Jesus began doodling the names of their mistresses one by one. If not [this] sin, maybe He was writing down the sins they had just committed earlier in the day! Nevertheless, we see them all leave, one-by-one until there is just the woman and Jesus. This is very important because the only one left was the only one without sin and the only one whom could have condemned the woman according to the Law of Moses because Jesus, being the second member of the Trinity, is the one whom was sinned against in the act of adultery. Yet, Jesus chose to not condemn her and told her to go and sin no more. Is it possible to not sin? Of course not. We are not perfect nor will we be. However, the inference is that He told her to change her way, turn and do life a new way with respect and honor to the pardon given. She was forgiven without paying a penance by God whom had every right to condemn her and was justly qualified to do so. She had not earned it in any way. She simply acknowledge the fact that there were no accusers. A precursor to the completion of His task as our savior. If you enjoy R.C. Sproul as much as I do, listen to his commentary on this very subject: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/sermons/woman-caught-adultery/