The Person of Jesus, as Told by John 8

“Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.” - John 8:6

I had the insane blessing of going on a silent retreat over a month ago. A few days prior, the Lord began prompting me with John 8, asking me to pray with it consistently during my upcoming days of silence. The concept of continually going to a passage I must have read over 100 times over my life seemed to bore me. Why wouldn’t He lead me to some place random and cool like some war in the Old Testament I forget was even a book in the Bible? Why would He lead me back to a place so familiar? Maybe it’s because He had more for me there.

The woman caught in adultery – John 8:1-11. Jesus tells those who have never sinned to cast the first stone and they all leave. Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more. I could tell you the story in my sleep – but that’s all there was to tell. 

As I began my silent retreat, I realized the Lord was asking me to sit with that passage at the end of all of my times for prayer. Considering the entire retreat was focused on prayer, this meant almost every hour or two I was opening my Bible to John 8. But the Lord wasn’t asking me to read the passage, He wasn’t even asking me to put myself in her shoes. He was asking me to live it. 

The scene: Annie is caught saying horribly mean things about a fellow missionary she works closely with. She is immediately thrown to the foot of Jesus, completely exposed for all to see. The crowd immediately begins to shout every lie that Annie has already heard in her head for months: 

“You’re not even a good missionary,” 

“You should be more healed than this,” 

“This is why people leave you,” 

“Once a bully, always a bully,” 

“Who could ever love someone like that?”

Covered in shame and lies, she hides her face in the dirt where she feels like she belongs.

And it’s in this place, in this scene, we find the King of Kings. He has left His throne to kneel before this girl, of all people, in the same pile of dirt. It is there He begins to write to her. As the lies get louder, He stands up to address the crowd, but Annie doesn’t hear what He says because she can only focus on the words written in the dirt in front of her: “I’ve never taken my eyes off you.” 

Before she even realizes what has happened she hears the voices quiet down one by one, and the crowd begins to leave. The Savior of the World joins her back in the dirt to write her one more message. Her heart begins beating faster knowing that He who is without sin is the one who has the power and authority to hurt her. And here she is alone, naked and exposed, before the Man who could stone her. She looks at the new message before her and her heart drops: 

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

I found myself with the Lord in settings just like this every hour on my retreat. Each moment of prayer I would enter into the dirt and address the lies and pain with the Lord, and each time – as I found myself consumed by listening to the crowd – the Lord humbly focused on being in the dirt. The Lord and Giver of Life, the Alpha and Omega, the Redeemer of All was too busy writing to me in the dirt to notice the commotion around us.

What is the crowd shouting at you today? Maybe you relapsed again after you swore you’d never fall. 

Maybe you feel like a failure, like you’re unlovable. 

Maybe your friends made plans without you. 

Maybe you feel unwanted and rejected. 

Maybe you got in the same disagreement with a family member you’ve been fighting for years. 

Maybe you feel unheard, frustrated, and misunderstood.

We often stop there – We can’t hear anything past the accusations of the crowd. We can’t look up because of the hurt. So there we are: stuck, staring down at the dirt.

No wonder Jesus goes there to meet us. He stoops down to our level and writes to us in the only place we have energy to look. He writes to us in the place where only we can see.

What does He write to you today?

Ask Him to show you, right now – stop scrolling through. Ask Him right now, say, “Jesus, what are you writing to me in the dirt?”

P.S. For the friend who is having a hard time hearing His voice, here are a few of the things He told me during my week of retreat. I think some of these are for you:

“You move my heart”

“I’m not afraid of your mess”

“My Heart is bigger than your hurt”

“I’m your Friend”

“You are safe”

“You are the one I choose”

“I got this”

“You are forgiven”

“I claim you as Mine”

“I have redeemed you”

“There is more mercy”

“I will not discard you”

“Don’t be afraid. I am with you.”