Another week, another altercation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees (John 8:1-11).
But this one is a little different. In some cases Jesus takes the fight to them, as in: “you brood of vipers” (Mt 12:34). In others he engages with a friendly questioner: “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:28–34). Today however he is attempting to avoid the interaction.
There are plenty of attempts, scholarly and otherwise, to figure out what Jesus might have been writing in the sand in this incident. Since the gospel doesn’t tell us we have no way to know, and the question misses the point – Jesus doesn’t want to engage with them, what he’s writing is irrelevant. Writing in dust is perhaps significant in that cleaning the dust from oneself was a central part of Jewish purification, both purely practical in a hot and dusty climate, and symbolic of separation from the dust where the serpent crawls. Jesus is getting into the dust. He is closer to the sinful woman than to the self-righteous.
And then there’s the woman, dragged on as a prop in the performance the powerful put on to demonstrate how pure they are. She was not some random person they happened to come across. Her relationships would have been known in her community. Being caught in the act can hardly have happened by chance. Those around her must have decided she was useful to them in their battle against Jesus. Since she was worthless she didn’t even count as collateral damage.
Having failed in his initial attempt to ignore them, Jesus does succeed in getting them to back off. They can still be shamed. Later, when their fury has been unleashed, they will not hold back and they will prevail in their murderous violence. But more interesting is Jesus’ approach to the woman. She is initially ignored along with the whole scene. Only when they are alone together does Jesus acknowledge her. There is no “your faith has healed you” moment. This woman didn’t come as an act of faith, however confused. She was dragged along, and expected to be killed. Jesus does not condemn her. Neither does he command her. He hands her back control of her life. He frees her to make a better choice. “Go and sin no more”.
Jesus doesn’t condemn anyone, even those out to kill him. He offers salvation, he offers a choice, he offers a new life without sin.