Joh 8:4-5 | KingComments | STEP | Likewise, the leaders are tireless in their efforts to silence the Lord Jesus. Like the people, they come to Him, not to learn, but to set a trap for Him. As always, they are completely blind to the glory of the Son and His omniscience. They bring a woman with them and bring her to Him. The woman has been caught committing adultery and they want Him to act as Judge. John notices that they place her in the center. They place sin, as it were, in the center. Their depravity is apparent not only from their evil intent, but also from the way in which they accuse the woman. They speak about sin without any disgust. For them it is ‘a case’ with which they want to embarrass Christ. They save Him the trouble of finding out whether their accusation is correct, because the woman has been caught red-handed. Possibly her husband came home when she was in bed with another man. It is also possible that the spies of the leaders have reported her. The prosecutors know the law. They know what the law of Moses says about such cases ( ; ). They can apply the right article of the law. Then why ask Christ? Because they do see and hear grace and truth in Jesus Christ, but refuse to accept it, because they do not want to see that they are sinners. They no longer want to hear His preaching, and His influence on the crowd is an eyesore to them. They want to get rid of Him. Now they think to have put Him with their question in a situation where any answer that He would give them would lead them to expose Him as a deceiver. If He condemns her, He is not a Savior. After all, the law can condemn as well. If He sets her free, He disregards and rejects the law. The trap is cleverly conceived and cunningly set up. But what does the cleverness of man mean in the presence of God Who searches the heart? The Lord does not respond directly to their attempt to test Him. That is not because He wants to gain time, but because He wants the full importance of the situation to pervade them. Because of this they will, once He answers, no longer have any possibility to evade what He is telling them. He is perfectly Master of the situation. He stoops down and writes with His finger on the ground. It is the same finger that wrote the commandments on the tablets of the law with the judgment of Israel ( ). It is also the same finger that wrote the judgment of Belsazar on the wall ( ). In both cases the finger of God wrote, for it was this finger, indelibly, the inflexible justice on a stone ground. We do not know what the Lord is writing here on the ground in the dust. It has been suggested that He may have written the names of those who did not want Him ( ). As a result of His stooped posture we can make two applications. On the one hand, He wants to teach the leaders that such an event can only be treated properly in a humble mind, willing to make themselves one with such evil. On the other hand, He wants to teach the woman that He does not stand upright to throw stones at her, but that He, as the Humble One, stoops down to serve her by convincing her of her sin.

‏ John 8:4-5

A Woman Caught in Adultery Brought to the Lord

Likewise, the leaders are tireless in their efforts to silence the Lord Jesus. Like the people, they come to Him, not to learn, but to set a trap for Him. As always, they are completely blind to the glory of the Son and His omniscience. They bring a woman with them and bring her to Him. The woman has been caught committing adultery and they want Him to act as Judge. John notices that they place her in the center. They place sin, as it were, in the center.

Their depravity is apparent not only from their evil intent, but also from the way in which they accuse the woman. They speak about sin without any disgust. For them it is ‘a case’ with which they want to embarrass Christ. They save Him the trouble of finding out whether their accusation is correct, because the woman has been caught red-handed. Possibly her husband came home when she was in bed with another man. It is also possible that the spies of the leaders have reported her.

The prosecutors know the law. They know what the law of Moses says about such cases (Lev 20:10; Deu 17:7). They can apply the right article of the law. Then why ask Christ? Because they do see and hear grace and truth in Jesus Christ, but refuse to accept it, because they do not want to see that they are sinners. They no longer want to hear His preaching, and His influence on the crowd is an eyesore to them. They want to get rid of Him.

Now they think to have put Him with their question in a situation where any answer that He would give them would lead them to expose Him as a deceiver. If He condemns her, He is not a Savior. After all, the law can condemn as well. If He sets her free, He disregards and rejects the law. The trap is cleverly conceived and cunningly set up. But what does the cleverness of man mean in the presence of God Who searches the heart?

The Lord does not respond directly to their attempt to test Him. That is not because He wants to gain time, but because He wants the full importance of the situation to pervade them. Because of this they will, once He answers, no longer have any possibility to evade what He is telling them. He is perfectly Master of the situation.

He stoops down and writes with His finger on the ground. It is the same finger that wrote the commandments on the tablets of the law with the judgment of Israel (Exo 31:18). It is also the same finger that wrote the judgment of Belsazar on the wall (Dan 5:5). In both cases the finger of God wrote, for it was this finger, indelibly, the inflexible justice on a stone ground. We do not know what the Lord is writing here on the ground in the dust. It has been suggested that He may have written the names of those who did not want Him (Jer 17:13).

As a result of His stooped posture we can make two applications. On the one hand, He wants to teach the leaders that such an event can only be treated properly in a humble mind, willing to make themselves one with such evil. On the other hand, He wants to teach the woman that He does not stand upright to throw stones at her, but that He, as the Humble One, stoops down to serve her by convincing her of her sin.