WHAT SAYEST THOU? - John 8:5-6
John 8:5-6 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
The scribes and the Pharisees came to Jesus with a woman who was caught committing adultery in the very act. The religious leaders were so concerned about trapping Jesus that they did not care about what happened to the woman. They had no compassion for the woman nor did they have any desire to help her, they simply were rejoicing in her iniquity because it gave them the opportunity to try to catch Jesus.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:6 that love rejoices not in iniquity. The religious leaders were so concerned about their rules that they failed to love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus on the other hand demonstrated great compassion for the woman and when her accusers had left, Jesus forgave her and admonished her to go and sin no more.
It is said that the hand of God writes three different things in the scriptures. The first time we see the hand of God comes when God gave us the law by writing the 10 Commandments. The second time we see the hand of God comes in the book of Daniel when God writes the judgment. The third time we see the hand of God comes in this passage where Jesus writes something in the dirt. While we do not know what Jesus had written, we do know that afterwards, Jesus forgave the woman and showed her mercy. Jesus had every right to condemn this woman for violating the law, but instead Jesus did not rejoice in her iniquity.
As Christians, we need to change our thinking so that we do not rejoice when someone fails and falls short of the glory of God. Instead, while it should grieve us, we should use this as an opportunity to help them see the error of their ways and encourage them to go and sin no more. The sinners need to understand God’s judgment, but they also need to see God’s love and mercy.