The finger of God

In the Temple, one morning, the scribes and the Pharisees bring Jesus a woman caught in adultery and set her in the midst of all. They recall that Moses prescribed the stoning of such a woman, and ask his opinion: “and you, what do you say?” John 8:5. They set a trap. Within this trap, Jesus reveals himself for what he is: the God who gave the Law to Moses, and the Lord whom Jeremiah named.

They have not brought the man

The woman was caught in the very act: the man with whom she sinned is therefore known, taken with her. Yet the Law they invoke condemns both: “The man who commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife shall be put to death, both he and the adulterous woman.” Leviticus 20:10. By bringing only the woman, they themselves transgress the Law of Moses. Their zeal is a pretext: they do not seek justice, but a charge to bring against Jesus.

The trap

Whatever he answers, they think they have him. If he forbids stoning the woman, he sets himself against Moses, and a prophet who contradicts Moses unmasks himself as false. If he orders her stoned, he calls for a death that Rome has taken from the Jews, and they will hand him over as a seditious man. This prohibition they will themselves admit before Pilate: “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” John 18:31.

The finger of God

Jesus bends down and, with his finger, writes on the ground. The Law they brandish, God wrote himself at Sinai: “He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” Exodus 31:18. The finger that engraved the Law is the one writing here, on the ground. They set against Jesus a Law he himself gave; the lawgiver stands before them, and they do not recognise him.

Written in the earth

As they press him, Jesus straightens up: “Let the one among you who is without sin throw the first stone at her.” John 8:7. Then he bends down again and goes on writing. The accusers withdraw one by one, beginning with the eldest. None can say he is without sin, and they least of all, who have just broken the Law by bringing only the woman; the eldest, having the most faults behind them, know themselves caught first. They turn away from Jesus and depart in confusion, while he writes on the ground. Jeremiah had prophesied over them: “Hope of Israel, Lord, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water.” Jeremiah 17:13. The Lord whom they forsake, the fountain of living water, is Jesus. “Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water shall flow from within him. He said this of the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive.” John 7:38-39.