I'm going to keep posting this Alstair Begg clip "The Man on the Middle Cross" (less than four minutes in length) every Holy Week, because its message is true in 2026, it will be true in 2036 and it will be true in 3036.
"If i take my eyes off the cross, I can then give only lip service to its efficacy while at the same time living as if my salvation depends upon me.
And as soon as you go there it will lead you either to abject despair or a horrible kind of arrogance.
And it is only the cross of Christ that deals both with the dreadful depths of despair and the pretentious arrogance of the pride of man that says you know, I can figure this out."
Title: Jesus Writing on the Ground: A Silent Act That Spoke with Divine Authority (John 8)
In John chapter 8, the Gospel records one of the most mysterious actions of Jesus, an action that is never explained in words, yet overflows with meaning. When the scribes and Pharisees brought before Him a woman caught in adultery, they demanded a judgment. Instead of answering immediately, Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. Scripture never tells us what He wrote. This silence is intentional, and for a Jewish reader, it speaks volumes.
To understand this moment, we must enter the world of Jewish law, culture, and covenant thinking. The scene unfolds in the Temple courts, a place of teaching, authority, and judgment. The accusers appeal to the Law of Moses, which commanded that adultery be punished. Their question was not rooted in justice but in entrapment. If Jesus upheld the law, He would appear merciless and risk Roman intervention. If He showed mercy, they could accuse Him of rejecting Moses. It was a legal trap designed to destroy Him.
Jesus response is astonishing. He does not speak. He stoops. He writes.
In Jewish Scripture, the finger of God is deeply significant. The Law itself was written by the finger of God on stone tablets at Mount Sinai. When Jewish readers hear that Jesus writes with His finger, they are meant to recall divine authority. This was not a random gesture. It was a silent declaration, the same authority that gave the Law was now standing before them. Jesus was not rejecting the Law, He was revealing its true heart.
The ground on which Jesus wrote also matters. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God is often associated with writing judgments and names in dust. Jeremiah 17:13 says that those who turn away from the Lord will have their names written in the earth, because they have forsaken Him. Many scholars believe Jesus may have been writing something related to sin, guilt, or the accusers themselves. Whether He wrote specific sins, names, or a verse of Scripture, the effect was undeniable. One by one, the accusers left, beginning with the oldest.
Age matters in Jewish culture. Elders were considered wiser and more accountable. Their departure first suggests conscience awakened by truth. The Law had exposed the woman, but Jesus act exposed the hypocrisy of the accusers. Jewish law required witnesses to be without guilt themselves and to carry out the sentence. When Jesus finally spoke, He said, โLet him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.โ This was not the abolition of the Law; it was its perfect application.
Another crucial cultural detail is that Jesus wrote twice. The text tells us He bent down and wrote, then stood and spoke, and then bent down again and wrote. In Jewish legal tradition, repetition establishes certainty. Two witnesses confirm truth. The double act of writing reinforces divine authority and finality. Judgment had been rendered, not against the woman, but against self-righteousness.
When all the accusers left, Jesus addressed the woman alone. โWoman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?โ When she answered no, Jesus replied, โNeither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.โ This moment captures the essence of the New Covenant. The Law revealed sin, but grace brought restoration. Yet grace did not excuse sin. Jesus did not say her actions were acceptable, He commanded transformation. Mercy and holiness met in perfect balance.
The Law was never meant to be a weapon for humiliation but a mirror leading to repentance. The scribes used the Law to trap, Jesus used it to heal. By writing on the ground instead of stone, Jesus symbolically showed that condemnation under the Law was temporary, but grace would endure.
This mystery also points forward to the cross. Just as Jesus stooped to write in the dust, He would soon stoop lower, bearing the sins of the world. The accusers dropped their stones, soon He would carry the judgment Himself. The One qualified to condemn chose instead to redeem.
Jesus writing on the ground remains a powerful lesson for us. It warns against religious pride and self-righteous judgment. It reminds us that God sees not only the obvious sinner but also the hidden sin. And it assures us that mercy triumphs over judgment when hearts are willing to repent.
Naturalist: โMorality is just an illusion from evolution, nothing more than survival instincts, no objective right or wrong.โ
Also naturalist: โReligion is evil! Christianity is harmful to society!โ
Dear Dawkinites, if morality isnโt real, how can anything be โevilโ or โharmfulโ?
You canโt ground objective good/evil without God.
Checkmate!
The Lord is working in the Dominican Republic! Praise the Lord! We are planning on taking some huge steps forward this year, and we need your help! Prayerfully consider supporting our ministry at: https://t.co/sTCZ2h0jnH
God bless you all!