John 8

“But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’”  John 8:6b-11 (NKJV)

I have heard many pastors give reasons and assumptions about what Jesus was doing, writing in the dirt.  I have yet to hear any of them quote Jeremiah.  I believe that Jesus’ actions fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy, indicting Israel’s spiritual leaders for “spiritual adultery.”  Being Torah scholars themselves, the Temple leaders eventually caught on to the significance of Jesus’ actions.

“Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame.  All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.”  Jeremiah 17:13 (HCSB)

Jeremiah’s prophecy combines the images of the New Testament “writing in the dirt” and “woman at the well” passages.  If you recall, in John 4, Jesus told the woman at the well, “If you knew who I was, you would ask Me, and I would give you Living Water.”

Both the woman at the well and the woman in today’s passage were guilty of adultery, yet they were forgiven when they believed in Messiah Jesus by faith.  They are seen in sharp contrast to Israel’s spiritual leaders, who refused to acknowledge their spiritual adultery and repent.

“My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living waters, to carve out cisterns themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13 (NASB)

We are created to worship, designed for a personal spiritual relationship with God.  We may reject the Lord, but we cannot abandon our created purpose.  People who reject God always adopt some form of false religion, even if that form is atheism.

God is willing to forgive and restore anyone who truly repents, and He is determined to judge and punish all who reject Him.  So, is your name written in the “dirt” or the Lamb’s Book of Life?