Jn 8:1-11
1Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 4They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
6They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. 7But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”
Jesus began to write on the ground with his finger. We often wonder what Jesus writes on the ground when the woman caught in adultery is brought before him.
When I was a kid, I would play in the streets with friends. Sometimes we would confront another group of boys and challenge them. We would draw a line on the ground and dare them to cross it if they wanted a fight. Once they stepped on it, ah, the rumble began!
I mischievously think of Jesus as drawing a line and asking the Pharisees to cross it. Obviously they are afraid to fight, so they leave one by one.
How many times do we draw a line between ourselves and people we do not like? Jesus has removed such a line. Many times Jesus crosses the line to reach out to the outcast and the marginalized. He walks across the lines some righteous people have drawn to bring God’s forgiveness and care to people left out by society. His coming has broken all fences and lines that divide us.