Jesus wrote on ground because he is divine and we are only human

What did Jesus write in the sand when the woman caught in adultery was brought to him?

There are two ways of looking at it. One shows us how he was truly divine — and the other shows us how understanding he is of our humanity.

The story of the Woman Caught in Adultery is a favorite, famous for two quotes from Jesus.

His first famous quote is what he says to the Pharisees who caught a woman — but notably not the man — in the act of adultery and then demanded that she be stoned for her crime. Jesus says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” teaching us to be merciful to fellow sinners.

His second famous quote is to the woman herself, after her accusers walk away, he says: “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more,” giving hope for sexual sinners.

But in Bible study discussions and Scripture commentaries, a side detail that seems unrelated to the rest of the story also gets a lot of attention: Jesus bends down and writes in the sand, not just once, but twice.

For two millennia, saints and scholars have speculated about what he wrote.

I love the explanations that show Jesus taking yet another occasion to show that he is truly, fully God.

St. Bede, a Scripture scholar from the 700s, saw in this story a revisiting of the time that God wrote the Ten Commandments, saying, “His writing with his finger on the ground perhaps showed that it was he who had written the law on stone.”

St. Jerome, whose translation of Scripture in the 300s and 400s is the Catholic standard, suggested that Jesus was writing the names of the accusers, as Jeremiah prophesied God would. 

If that’s true, Jesus was once again using his surroundings to help him teach a lesson.

This incident happens at the Feast of Tabernacles, a festival at which water from the Pool of Siloam would be poured out on the altar.

It comes a few lines after John tells us that “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, 'If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’"

Jeremiah contrasts the faithful with the names of shame of the sinful, which “will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”

So it would make sense that, after his reference to water the day before, Jesus would follow with a sign in the dust. Both actions show that he is one with the Father. 

But I like two very human explanations, also.

First, this Gospel passage shows that John actually saw what happened on that day.

John is not shy about sharing his interpretation of what he sees Jesus doing. But he doesn’t give any meaning to what he reports here. To me, that suggests that he is simply sharing what he saw, as if to prove that “I was there” — and it further suggests that the fact of Jesus writing on the ground is more important than what he wrote.

And why is the fact of writing important?

Jesus wrote on the ground twice — and both St. Jerome and St. Bede suggested that he wrote for a second time in order to give them a chance to “withdraw creditably.”  

As St. Bede put it, “He saw that they were staggered, and would be more likely to retire at once than to put any more questions.”

There is a beautiful human lesson for each of us in that detail.

Jesus is showing us that he is merciful not just to the woman caught in adultery, but also to her accusers. 

If you need to correct someone, your goal shouldn’t be to make them look and feel terrible. Your goal is to help them correct course and get on the right path. 

So after Jesus says, “Let the one in your group who is without sin cast the first stone,” he starts writing on the ground to allow them to bow out gracefully. 

Jesus knows how hard it is for us to admit we are wrong. He knows that if you put someone in a situation where they have to suffer a public humiliation, you almost guarantee that they will harden themselves in error rather than admit their fault. Very few people are able to publicly admit they were wrong.

But if you look away, and do something else, you allow them to do the right thing in privacy with their dignity and self-respect intact. 

Jesus gives the Pharisees the same beautiful gift he gives the woman caught in adultery: An opportunity to stop doing wrong, start doing right, and save face while changing course. It's something that, nowadays, we all need.