…Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They 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. But 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." Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more." (Jn 8, 1-11)
He bent down…write (twice)…Then he straightened up (twice)…
In the Old Testament, the word ‘write’ appears in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy in connection with the commandments. That is, the Lord writes the commandments or he asks Moses to write them down. (Ex 17, 14; 34, 1. 27; Deut 6, 9; 10, 2; 11, 20; 27, 3; 31, 19)
Nobody knows, of course, what Jesus was writing on the ground. We can guess if we like; maybe he was writing lists of their sins, maybe he was writing some laws etc. I would like to guess that he was writing laws and these are the laws he openly said when he straightened up: "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
Then again he bent down to write a second law and he said it openly when he straightened up: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more."
The symbolic action of Jesus bending down, is to look at ones own self and not at others. For looking at ones own self will make him/her feel who he/she really is. Looking into others, one always compares and says that he /she is better of. Bending down and looking at oneself against the law gives the right picture of the self.
As the story presents, Jesus gives us two laws to deal with, when we are faced with people who have committed grave sins. The first law is to look into ourselves and judge for ourselves whether we are without sin and the second law is assist the sinner not to sin again.
Both the laws are tough to practice, but not for Jesus (and godly persons).
