What did Jesus write on the ground in the matter of the woman that was caught in adultery?

In John 8 is where we find the account of Christ saving the adulteress from the accusation of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, and most importantly, the law’s judgment of death which she deserved. During the incident, Christ wrote on the ground… twice. Now there are no insignificant details in God’s word. Have you ever thought about why Christ wrote and what it was that He wrote? Also, how does His action impact the life of all today? Beloved, there’s no one better to interpret the Word than the Word Himself. Here’s the passage from John 8–

1 “but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn He appeared again in the temple COURTS, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees BROUGHT IN in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. 7 When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.”

I put some words in caps for emphasis. 

The movie “Jesus of Nazareth” and other cinematic depictions of the life of Christ on earth present this scene as Jesus sitting outside the Temple precincts and doodling on sand with His finger. But Jesus was teaching in the Temple COURTS — a built up area — and not on some sandy or grassy patch of land outside of the Temple. The woman was BROUGHT IN - into the temple - by her accusers the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees.

What makes this account even more interesting is the Greek word that “write” in the passage is translated from— “Grapho.” It means to “grave.” To grave, scrape, scratch, engrave.

Also consider Exodus 31:18—  “And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

That is the Lord God giving to Moses the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. In the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament,) the word “written” is the exact/same Greek word used in John 8: “Grapho” meaning to “grave, scrape, scratch, engrave” 

Christ did not doodle on sand. He wrote in stone.

Our Saviour’s action — engraving words into the stone floor of the Temple courts with His finger — the same finger of God that wrote the law on the tablets of stone - it would have made onlookers stare in awe. But it was not out of place given who He was— the people had seen Him raise the dead, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind…

So what did Christ engrave into ground? Our Saviour is the definition of Perfection and Precision. He is the Lord of Time and Space— He certainly was not wasting time by doodling or drawing useless and pointless shapes in the ground. Recall John 8 says—

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. 7 When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.”

Notice Christ wrote twice? This is very significant. But before we address that— I believe that Christ engraved the Law of Moses into the ground. Not in dirt, but in stone. Inside the Temple courts. Recall that He stooped to write, probably making His writing not visible to the questioning Pharisees who thought they were on the right side of the Law? Very significant our Saviour's stooping, beloved. It has to do with one of the components of the Ark of the Covenant - the Mercy Seat - a typology for Christ Himself. 

Upon Christ’s raising Himself up, the Pharisees and Scribes saw fully what He had etched into the ground— The Ten Commandments which condemns to death the very best of those who try to keep even a tittle of it in their desire to be good aka be like God. Doing so absolves no one of sin, as it is written in Proverbs 20:9—

“Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?

Also, see what David wrote in the Psalms—

“Don’t bring me into your courtroom for judgment, for there is no one who is righteous before you.” Psalm 143:2

With the truth of the law engraved in stone confronting their very eyes in the same Temple court to which they had dragged the adulteress for judgment, with each one of them seeing his own sin in the written law, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law, convicted in their hearts, stood condemned. Plus, it takes two to commit adultery. But no man was accused! I like to think that the man in question was one of of the Pharisees and Scribes whose desire to see Christ disgraced trumped his lust for his partner in crime. Rather than remain in the Light of the world who saves from sin like the helpless adulteress, they all slunk away from Jesus Christ the Light of the world - back into their darkness of striving for godliness by human effort at doing what the law commands.

Christ said to them—

“…“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.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 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. 10 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?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John‬ ‭8:7-12‬.

Christ speaking the words in verse 12 above immediately after the Pharisees and Scribes' departure and after His salvation of the adulteress who remained in Him is no coincidence, beloved. It helps us see who is "walking in darkness" and who is "in the Light." Recall He said to Nicodemus in John 3–

“And here is the basis for their judgment: The Light of God has now come into the world, but the people loved darkness more than the Light, because they want the darkness to conceal their evil. So the wicked hate the Light and try to hide from it, for the Light fully exposes their lives. But those who love the truth will come into the Light, for the Light will reveal that it was God who produced their fruitful works.”” John‬ ‭3:19-21‬ ‭

The adulteress remained in the Light of the world, helpless to save herself from her sins, and was saved from sin and death. The Pharisees and scribes were equally as guilty and as helpless to save themselves as the adulteress whom they were accusing. Instead of remaining in Jesus Christ the Light, they slunk away from Him— into the darkness. Now we see who it is that “loved the darkness” and what it means to “walk in the Light.” Walking in darkness is trusting in human effort for the attainment of godliness/be like God and using the knowledge of good and evil aka law-keeping. It is the precursor to committing horrific sins—

“The law was given that sins might increase…” Romans 5:20.

Walking in darkness aka trusting in human effort to be sin-free or godly (be like God) is what leads to man committing horrific sins— it led the Pharisees to plot to kill Christ and to quell His message (GRACE.) After Christ's death and resurrection, it led to religious folk who thought they could keep even a tittle of the law labelling Grace as "not sufficient" and "license to sin." It led to Peter thinking that His Maker was wrong about his then upcoming denials; it led to man’s fall from Grace in Eden. Christ says- 

“There is none good but God.”

God so loved us that He gave His own Son Jesus Christ to die that we might receive His godliness/righteousness as a gift. Beloved, this is the essence, foundation and pillar of our belief in Jesus:

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH.

That religious deceit that promotes man striving to attain to good (be like God) when God’s word says man cannot, it has been Satan’s strategy to kill and to destroy since Eden— before Satan can kill and destroy, he has to the word of Grace which is written for us in Romans 3--

"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

The Pharisee’s family members are still around today, beloved— religious church daddies who cannot cast the first stone and are in need of Grace as much as the vilest offender, but are always sniffing out and accusing the flock of sins from wobbly pedestals of self-righteousness, dragging the helpless flock before God and threatening same with the punishment of the law instead of pointing the helpless sinner to the Saviour from sins Jesus Christ of whom it is written in Titus 2:14–

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Christ gave His life for us all, beloved. Point the sinner to Christ as Saviour from sins and sins will disappear.

Thank God that Jesus did not end with “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” — exposing us all to the law’s demands. Our Mercy Seat "stooped" down and wrote on the ground a second time after saying those words—

“…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.”

Christ wrote on the ground/stone with his finger twice. God wrote the law on stone with His finger, twice- the first time, Moses literally broke all of the commandments. If he had taken the Law into the camp of Israel as they reveled over the golden calf, they would all have died. At the second giving of the Law, God made provision for the Law to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant — covered by the Mercy Seat which is a typology for our Saviour Jesus Christ Himself. As long as the blood of atonement was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat which covered the Ark of the Covenant as God commanded, the people were spared the wrath of the law which condemns to death the best of those who try to keep it in order to be right with God. The blood on the mercy seat was what caused God to not see iniquity in Jacob when Balaam was hired to curse them. Recall  what Moses said to them in Deuteronomy 9:6-7 after Balaam failed in his bid to curse them and as they were about to cross the River Jordan into the Promised Land –

“6 Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.”

The children of Israel were rebellious and stiff-necked throughout their journey in the wilderness, including their time in Moab when Balaam tried to curse them, yet the Lord did not observe iniquity or see wickedness in them. Beloved, we have an even better covenant than that of the blood of bulls and goats— we are joint heirs with Christ. In Him, God sees us as righteous, “even though we are guilty of many sins.” Take His word for it—

“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16.

Very important is the typology of Christ as our “Mercy Seat.” Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the tablets of stone (the Ten Commandments representing man's rebellion against God's law;) Aaron's rod which blossomed (representing man's rejection of God's appointed leadership;) and the golden pot of manna (representing man's rejection of God's provision,) all representing man's rebellion against God. All of these items were put inside the Ark and covered with the mercy seat. As long as God's eyes saw the mercy seat with blood that the high priest sprinkled on it to make atonement for Israel, He did not execute well-deserved judgment on the Israelites.

Remove the mercy seat/stop the sprinkling with blood as at when due and God's eyes would see the items of man's rebellion against Him and remember their sins (even the tiniest one and "all have sinned.") Judgment must follow, no matter how good a person has tried to be by himself. The mercy seat, sprinkled with blood, was the only thing that stood between God's judgment and the people. The mercy seat is a typology for Christ Himself. Romans 3:25 says of Him—

“Jesus’ God-given destiny was to be the sacrifice to take away sins, and now He is our mercy seat because of His death on the cross.” 

Removing the mercy seat and beholding the Ten Commandments inside the Ark has dire repercussions as seen in 1 Samuel 6:19 which tells us what happened when the people of Beth Shemesh looked inside the Ark of the Covenant-

"Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter."

To get to the Ten Commandments and the other items of man's rebellion against God that are inside the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat (a picture of Jesus Christ) needs to be moved out of the way. Today, the mercy seat is being removed by those who are trying to gain right-standing with God by doing what the law commands in order to be godly or right with God, instead of looking to Jesus Christ the Mercy Seat by whose obedience we are made righteous.

Beloved, Jesus Christ our Mercy Seat was the propitiation for sins for the adulteress as He is ours. He stooped over/covered the engraved law that condemns the best of us, saving the adulteress from judgment. In His dealing with the adulteress, had He raised Himself and uncovered the written law, exposing the adulteress to its righteous demands, no amount of fasting, obedience or sowing seed could have saved her from the prison of sin and the death that the law demanded of her. When He raised Himself, He exposed the law to her equally guilty accusers and it condemned them all, as it does all who presume to be able to keep as much as a tittle of it in order to be right with God. But to the helpless adulteress who was at the end of her self-help tether, He stooped down over what His finger engraved in stone, giving her the covering gift of the Mercy Seat’s "no condemnation" by which we go and sin no more. 

Only the death of Christ for our sins matters, beloved. And His forgiveness is based on a righteous foundation— His death on the cross paid for the sins of the adulteress' as well as our sins for which the law demanded the payment of death; a sacrifice that the equally guilty Pharisees rejected for their own (self-)righteous works. A sacrifice that many religious folk in church whose lives are all about obedience and doing good deeds are also rejecting today! 

Beloved, beware of the leaven/yeast of the Pharisees aka the slightest infusion of human effort at attaining godly traits (be like God) into the story of our salvation by Grace. A little leaven/yeast is all it takes to create a doctrine that  causes one to be puffed up with pride in self. And after pride comes a fall as it was with Adam and Eve and Peter who thought that had some good in them to be godly when Christ says "There is none good but God."

I never intended for this to be so long! To answer the question: by writing/etching the Law on the ground twice, Christ was passing a message to the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, and that message is—

“You presume to know the Law of Moses? I wrote the Law on stone with My finger. Twice as I have done here. And it condemns the best of those who try to keep it. Remain in Me — the Light of the world - and like the adulteress, freely receive salvation from sin and death by Grace through Faith.”

But they would not. Like many well-meaning churchgoers today, the religious Pharisees and scribes refused to accept God’s way of making us right with Himself, choosing to strive for their own righteousness by right doing aka obeying the law. Romans 10:1- 4 addresses this issue—

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.”

Beloved, Christ says “There is none good but God.” 

None of us can obey the law or do good works as much as even “good” Pharisees like Nicodemus who was a member of the Sanhedrin— Israel’s Supreme Court. Some even openly contradict God’s word by preaching that doing righteousness is the way to become righteous and enter the kingdom of God, this when Christ is saying to us in Matthew 5:25–

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew‬ ‭5:20‬.

Beloved, none of us can match the Pharisees in their obedience and works of the law. For starters, no temple. But we have some preachers deceiving folk into believing that their self-driven righteous deeds of “I sowed my car and got a jet” matter when it comes to entering God’s kingdom. Beloved, don’t let anyone deceive you— in the story of our salvation in Christ, there is nothing like—

“I will do my best to be good and obedient and God will see that I have tried, bless me and do the rest.”

One is either saved by Grace through faith or not saved at all—

“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” Romans‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭

This is how God sees such righteous works which many wave about as credentials for being “godly” and think should influence God to bless, save or deliver—

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.

Beloved, see God’s way of making us right with Himself written for us in Romans 3–

 26 “...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

Let’s not follow the way of those of whom it is written in Romans 10:3–

“For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.”

God in His love gave His own Son to die for us to make us righteous and free us from punishment, for nothing we did in our own might could ever suffice—

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9.

In Him, God sees us as righteous, “even though we are guilty of many sins.”—

16 “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.”

This is God’s written word, beloved. But this truth is too hard to swallow for God-challengers who oppose the Word of God (“There is none good but God”) by presuming to be able to produce an atom of good/godly traits or become godly (be like God) by their human strength. Beloved, let’s not be found on such "mixture" ground--  claiming to be righteous through Christ's finished work while using in the leaven of the Pharisees aka self-righteousness. In God’s Wisdom which is foolishness to human logic, receiving His abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ is how we get to live in triumph over sin and death, and only through Christ—

16 “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

So ask for Grace to know and believe Grace who is Christ Himself, beloved. Our Heavenly Father gives us all things, including His Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him, freely and without asking things like “So you are just coming now after wasting your life away doing nonsense….?” 

When your believing is right, right living will follow.