One day Jesus was ambushed by the prestigious and powerful members of the legislature of the city of Jerusalem and they doggedly asked the Teacher's opinion and sentence in the case of the woman who had been surprised and caught in the act of adultery1 and brought justice and sentenced to death according to the Holy Law2 .                                            

Jesus knew that it's a got up job with the intention of the pharisees to extort His word before witnesses which is inconsistent with the Holy Law, so He would easily be condemned blasphemy and put to death.3 At the same time He knew as well that His time has not come yet.

And right there in the court of the Temple something odd happened which has since then crawled everybody all over again and again. As we know based on the Scriptures He did not say anything to the pharisees which would have committed Himself. He just put up a question to them and as their reaction to it the whole legislature went off ashamed left behind the whole case and the defendant was set free from them.

What happened exactly in the Temple court on that day? Let see John's account about the event:

“At dawn, He came back into the temple, the court4, and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them, When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the court and put the case before Him. Teacher, they said, This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such women, offenders shall be stoned to death. But what do You say to do with her, what is Your sentence? But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.”

Why did Jesus ignore them? Many think it was because He despised them; others say that He was embarrassed for the woman’s sake. Still others say that He was horrified at what these men did to her.

Bur first of all what did Jesus write? No one can know for certain. May He have listed their names or their sins? Or simply doodled? May He have followed Roman judicial practice and wrote out His sentence before He pronounced it?

All the answer above missed the point. Namely the point is not what did Jesus write but how He wrote it. He wrote on the ground His fingertip.

We know well that God used His fingertip to write the tables for Moses and Israel: “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (Ex 31:18.)

We know well too what happened Belshazzar's Feast when “immediately the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand; and the king saw the hand as it wrote [MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN]. Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.” (Daniel 5:1-31 RSV)

When God's finger appears dead sentences are on the way for kings, rulers, empires and kingdoms. When God's finger appears and writes the Most High pronounces verdicts concerned them who otherwise are untouchable. At the most high level of judicature ever. It was higher then sanhedrin back then and it is higher than the Hague Tribunal today. It is divine.

The pharisees were in well aware of the Scripture and the history of their nation. Actually the only thing they were afraid of was God's finger. They could do anything they want. Their power was almost endless. There was no one to judge them on earth. But not in Heaven.

In addition they were not sure who was Jesus indeed. “What if He came out from God, if He is real God as He has claimed it to us many times? What if He knows each and every sin of ours and now it is the time for the divine sentences? We can not risk to lie to God. It would be equal to put ourselves to death. Let's get out of here now. We could do no other.”  

We should know what Jesus did to them was not an attempt to retort for their plot. It was not a counter action at the same level they acted Him just a few minutes before. Jesus knew exactly what was their original intention, He knew every thoughts they hided in their mind. But He was not sure for a moment whether His time was arrived or not.

“If my Father was calling for my sacrifice right now, right here or not yet? Has the last stadium of my earthly ministry arrived? If I say "Let her go," then it seems that I break the Mosaic Law and they execute me immediately. Everything is prepared profoundly: the place, the witnesses, the case, the body of legislature. My whole mission, the salvation work for what I came out from the Father would be at risk if I tell them the truth.”

If I say, "Execute her for the crime she committed," then I betray my Father because His justice never fail. He search for truth deep in the hearts of humans and He wants judgments based on that, not presentments. He does not want this poor sinner to be put dead. In the long run she was trapped. This poor thing committed something and she pulled on herself the lawful dead-warrant, but she was set up, it is clear, no question about it. These bunch of hypocrites and snarer used her to trap Me, they did not want justice for their community's sake. They just used the Holy Law and that woman for their goal. They used God for getting rid of their enemy, of Me.”

He stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger. He pronounced the Father's sentence: do you want justice? Then you get justice: Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. (Mat 7:2)

They got the message: their power is near to the end. And the most high court has got together in Heaven for judge them. The woman's case suddenly became nothing. There is something more important happened.

They began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court. When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. You were set up but that is not mean you are innocent. But go on your way and from now on sin no more.

1They cared nothing for true righteousness, for it is evident that they set her up. They claim that this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act - yet they do not bring the guilty man before Jesus. It’s possible that the man was one of their own number, and was simply setting the woman up as a pawn in their conflict with Jesus.

2Adultery was a capital offense under Jewish law, but the rules for evidence in capital cases were extremely strict. The actual act had to be observed by multiple witnesses who agreed exactly in their testimony. So, as a practical matter, virtually no one was executed for adultery, since this is a private sin.

3They set a trap for Jesus. If Jesus says, "Let her go," then it seems that He breaks the Mosaic Law. If he says, "Execute her for the crime of adultery," then Jesus seems harsh and He breaks Roman law, because the Romans had taken away the right of Jews to officially execute people for religious offenses.

4There were the courts where Jesus or the apostles taught or encountered adversaries, and the like, "in the temple"; also the courts of the temple, of the Gentiles, out of which Jesus drove the buyers and sellers and the money changers, court of the women.

Tibor Rozsahegyi May, 2007