The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - What Did Jesus Write in the Dirt?

Episode Date: July 28, 2017

If you've ever read the story about the woman caught in adultery, you know that the Jews who wanted to stone her walked away after Jesus bent down and wrote something in the dirt. The Gospel never tells us what he wrote, but by putting together four different scriptural clues, Jeff thinks he's got a pretty good guess. Find out Jeff's take on the story, and how his interpretation shows God's desire to free you from shame.

You're listening to The Jeff Kavens Show. Episode 26, What Did Jesus Write in the Dirt? Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show.

Hey, I'm glad you could join me once again for the show. I'm going to be talking today about a life in general. one particular scripture that a lot of people wondered about probably most of their life because they've never had anybody explain what Jesus wrote in the dirt. And I'd like to do that with you today because it also has something to do with shame. And if you are experiencing shame in your life in some way, this show might be key to you being free from that shame. And I want to also thank you for writing in so many kind emails and response. on iTunes to the show.

I just recently was in Steubenville, Franciscan University at the Institute of Applied Biblical Studies and defending the faith. And in fact, I am in Steubenville as I'm doing the show here today and I'm hearing so many good remarks from the attendees about the show and what the show has been doing for them.

One lady came up to me and said that one of the reasons that she so liked the show is because we make things simple, simple, you know, trying to explain at an everyday level some of these theological concepts and to offer encouragement to people in a way that they can understand. And that is what we're trying to do is really to bring good information to you as a modern day disciple, to learn about the Lord, to know his heart, to know his plan, and to implement these teachings in everyday life. Well, the text that I'm going to share with you today is that very famous text in John

8 where the leadership caught a woman in adultery and Jesus ended up writing in the dirt and as a result of it, all of her accusers left and she was made whole by Jesus. And what I want to do in this program is I'd like to explain to you what I think Jesus wrote in the dirt. In fact, I would say, I think I'm about 99% sure here. And I said that to a conference not too long ago, and someone said, how can you be so sure about what Jesus wrote in the dirt?

He never said what he wrote in the dirt as a response of these leaders trying to shame this woman caught in adultery. And I said, no, it doesn't say what he wrote in the dirt, but here's the key. If you know how Jesus teaches, then it leaves you with a number of clues as to what he wrote in the dirt. And I think we're pretty right on with this, and I think you're going to be surprised and it's going to be a blessing to you. So let me start off and just share with you John Chapter 8, the basic story about 11 verses that really set the stage for this episode where Jesus writes in the dirt. We start with verse one, says, but when Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning,

he came again to the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in their midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her? Now this they said to test him That they might have some charges to bring against him Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground

As they continued to ask him he stood up and said to them Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground But when they heard it they went away one by one beginning with the eldest And Jesus was left alone with the woman's stone standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? And she said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and do not sin again. Well, there's the story. It's pretty simple. Jesus has been teaching on the temple mount steps

probably right around there early in the morning. And as he's teaching there, and if you've gone to Israel with me, you know that we go to those southern steps on the Temple Mount, and we actually teach this right there. But as Jesus is teaching, suddenly there's this disruption, and the leadership brings this woman who was, and we don't know how, but she was caught in the very act of adultery, probably thrown down in front of Jesus, and the accusers in an attempt to trap Jesus and to test him said, we caught her, she was in adultery. Now the law says, that we should stone her, what do you say? So they're waiting for a response from Jesus concerning the shaming of this woman, and they're hoping actually to kind of entrap him.

Now, before we look at the broader context, and I'm going to give you some clues here as to what he's doing, what Jesus is doing, and why we know what he wrote in the sand, or we're pretty sure we know what he wrote in the sand. Let me talk just for a moment about shame, because that's what this woman is going through. No doubt anybody who would be caught in adultery and drug before a court would be shamed. Shame is a useful tool to keep you out of trouble, but shame is a terrible tyrant once you have been exposed or caught in some way.

And it has a way of following you the rest of your life. Nobody wants to live with shame. Shame will beat you down. It embarrasses you, it makes you feel less than who you are. And I really like what St. John John Paul II wrote, when he wrote about shame, he said one time that the purpose of shame is to really to keep you straight on the narrow, but shame is what you experience when what is supposed to be private becomes public, all right?

So you can be shamed for doing something very good, but it's public now, you know, something intimate is made public. or you did something wrong and now that's made public. Either way, you experience this shame and it feels like your life is tarnished. You're never going to get back on track. Well, that's what they're doing to this woman. And I just pause for a second to ask, have you ever been shamed? Do you live with shame?

Some people live with shame based on something they did when they were back in college and they can't forget about it. Some people are ashamed by something that happened to them when they were a kid and maybe they were abused or there was an episode that involved a relative or a mom and dad and they've never been able to forget about it. Sometimes people experience shame based on something that somebody else did that's close to them. For example, like a father or a priest, you know, your parish priest or something like that. But regardless, when you experience shame, it's very, very, very...

uncomfortable. So here's where we meet this woman on the southern steps of the of the temple. She's being shamed by the leadership and Jesus is going to set her free. Now in order to understand the broader context of John chapter 8, which is totally necessary, if you want to know what Jesus wrote in the dirt, you have to back up and look at the broader context, which is what is happening here. And that comes in chapter 7. of John chapter of John's gospel the story of the woman is John 8 but setting up the story you got to go back to John 7 now before we look at John 7 let me say something about the style of Jesus teaching I was blessed along with my wife too to have many many years in Israel and in the United States

studying under some of the great teachers who were able to teach us about the teaching methodology of Jesus, not just what he taught, but how he taught as well. And so we really got to go deep into how he taught. And the clue to knowing what he wrote in the dirt goes back to how he taught. Now, he utilized about five basic methods of biblical interpretation and using Old Testament scripture to bring out points. For example, he uses a methodology called Hecash. Hecchish in Hebrew is to bang two texts together.

To bang two texts together. He often will do that, where he'll grab a text from a prophet and one from the psalm or something, he'll bang them together. Like when he says, the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost when he was down in Jericho. He's grabbing from Ezekiel and Daniel, and he's banging two texts together, which speaks of the fact that he is the Messiah. and that there is corrupt leadership. He did that. He did it very, very quickly. There's another method of teaching called R-E-M-E-Z.

R-E-M-E-Z means to hint. And he's a master at this. He's always hinting back to the Old Testament. And he does this, for example, when he's on the way to the cross and he says, if they do this in the green tree, what will they do in the brown? Well, the green tree is a euphemism for code word for the righteous or the Messiah, brown the unrighteous.

So he's hinting back a lot. And in this situation here, in John chapter 8, he's hinting back. I'll tell you that right now. He's hinting back at a text which will blow up in the accuser's face and cause them to leave immediately. And I'm going to tell you what that text is from the Old Testament. But first, I'm going to give you all the clues. If you go back to John chapter 7, we're going to start with verse 37. It says in verse 37, and I'm going to pause here, and I'm going to give you the clues outright.

So if you want to write these down, you certainly can. They'll be in the show notes for you too. On verse 37, on the last day of the feast, what feast are we talking about? Well, we're talking about the feast of tabernacles. The last day of the feast, the great day. That day is different than all the other days of the feast of tabernacles. Jesus stood up and he proclaimed, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now this, he said, about the spirit which those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Okay? So let me give you the clue. Clue number one. We've got, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. There's a clue right there. Now on this Feast of Tabernacles, this is kind of interesting. Get this. On the last day, they had a special offering that was made. Every day during the Feast of Tabernacles, they would bring pots of water from the pool of

Siloam down at the southern end of the city of David. Go with me to Israel. I'll show it all to you. And they would bring these pots up into the temple area, the mount, and they would pour them out as water libations, as offerings, as a sign of hope that when the Messiah comes, water will flow from the temple, and it'll even go out into the desert and nourish new plants and so forth. So it's a hint. You know, when you pour out water in the temple, it's a hint that the Messiah is coming. Well, it's in the middle of this on the great day

when there's a super libation, a super offering, that Jesus stands up and what does he say? He talks about water. He says, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Okay? He who believes in me, as the scripture has set out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now, verse 40 speaks as, as we move on, it speaks of the fact that he's going to be rejected, okay?

There's going to be a rejection of Jesus. When they heard these words, some of the people said, this is really the prophet. Others said, this is the Christ, but some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So there was a division among the people over him.

Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So clue number one, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Jesus is offering living water, right? Clue number two, they are rejecting him. In fact, in verse five, we see that the officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why did you not bring him? The officers answered, no man ever spoke like this man. And the Pharisees answered them, are you led astray also?

have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him, but this crowd who do not know the law are accursed. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? They replied, are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no profit is to rise from Galilee,

and then they went each to their own home. So chapter seven, let me repeat, that real quick. Give you like a wrap-up. Chapter 7, Jesus is gone to the temple. During the time when they're offering water libations, he stands up and says, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And we find out that people were actually sent that day from the Pharisees and the leadership to arrest him. And so he's being rejected for what he's talking about when he talks about come to me and I'll give you living water clue number three is that they are trying to shame a woman because chapter eight begins with remember how chapter seven

ended they all went to their own homes but jesus went over to the mount of olives which is a stone's throw away okay so chapter eight begins by saying early in the morning he came again to the temple See, that's the context, the day before, the Feast of Tabernacles. He came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. By the way, back then, rabbis sat, the people stood. It's a little backwards today, but that's what we got to work with. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery,

placing her in their midst and said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Law says we should stoner. What do you say? They're trying to test him. All right? So the third clue is they're trying to shame a woman. Jesus doesn't answer them, though. He does answer them, but not verbally.

He bends down and he writes with his finger in the dirt. And that's what we're trying to answer, right? And then he stands up and he says, he who is without sin casts the first stone. And then he bends back down and he continues to write in the dirt. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin cast the first stone, then he wrote in the ground. But when they heard it, guess what happened?

They saw him right, they heard him, they went away. The accusers, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Clue number four, he's writing in dirt. Clue number one, living water. Clue number two, they reject him. Clue number three, they're trying to shame a woman. Clue number four, he writes in the dirt.

What could he possibly be hinting at? And what is he writing in the dirt? And why did they get up and leave? And particularly in that order, starting with the oldest, which is another clue. My friend, he's hinting back to the Old Testament, and he's doing it with the context and his finger in the dirt, totally hinting back to Jeremiah chapter 17. Now I'm going to take a break.

When I come back, I'm going to share this text with you and what he's trying to say to them. Okay? You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. It's hard to live out your Catholic faith on your own. In fact, the Bible reveals that we need a community of people to help us on our journey of faith. If you're interested in finding that community

by joining or starting a small group study, visit ascensionpress.com and sign up for a free ascension account. With your account, you'll get all the tools you need to start walking with others towards Christ. Welcome back. We are revealing what Jesus wrote in the dirt in John chapter 8. That's right. We're going to predict it right here with, I think, a pretty good percentage of accuracy. And we, before the break, we're looking at all the clues in John 7 and 8 that provide the context for what Jesus is hinting at in the Old Testament that's going to cause his accusers and the woman's accusers to go. And the clues once again were living water, rejecting him, a woman being shamed, and writing

in the dirt. All right? Are you ready? I think he's hinting at John chapter, or Jeremiah chapter 17. And if you have a Bible from Ignatius Press, the RSV Catholic edition, you'll see that even the heading for John Chapter 17 is Judah's sin and shame. Judah's sin and shame. So the context of Jeremiah is the shame of Judah

and what they are going through because of their unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness. Okay? Now, trust me, everybody that was standing around Jesus and the woman in John chapter 8 around that temple, they know this scripture and they know the context. And so all Jesus has to do is hint at this chapter and they'll get the clue. It's called Rames. It's hinting. It's a rabbinic method of teaching. So go over the clues again and then I'll give you the scripture. Clues again, living water, rejecting Jesus, shaming a woman, writing in the dirt.

Listen to what I think he's hinting at here. In Jeremiah 17, verse 13, oh Lord, hope of Israel, 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 Lord, the fountain of living water. Isn't that powerful? Listen again, O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame. They're trying to put to shame, this woman. Jesus is saying, all who forsake him will be put to shame. Those who turn away from him, which they did in John 8, shall be written in the earth. For they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Wow. And they saw what he was writing. What do you think he was writing? I think that he was writing their names. Because it says in Jeremiah, their names will be written in the earth. I think he was writing their names and I think he was writing their names from the oldest to the youngest

because they left him and the woman from oldest to youngest. Now, why oldest to youngest? Is there anywhere in Israel where names are listed oldest to youngest? Yes. In the temple. The Sanhedron's names,

the group of the Sanhedron which represents the law that has the ability to bind and loose, their names are recorded in the temple. from oldest to youngest. You see, in the Sanhedron, when it came time to take a vote, they did not vote with the oldest first. Like they do in our Senate,

everybody pays attention to just a few people, and then they vote along the party line. That's pretty productive, isn't it? No, they didn't do it that way. They made the youngsters vote first. When the youngsters voted first, they voted from their heart. but in this case I believe that the elders

saw their names written they put together living water rejecting Jesus shaming a woman writing in the dirt knew exactly what Jesus was talking about and did not want to stay for the encore because it might have meant that they would be shamed

themselves and so they walked away and there's Jesus standing alone with the woman who earlier was riddled with shame. And Jesus said, he said, has no one condemned you? And she said, no one Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and do not sin again. Wow, that's a beautiful teaching. That is a beautiful scripture that talks about the fact that, yes, we do have people who are constantly, trying to put us down.

And even the book of Revelation calls Satan the accuser of the brethren. Have you ever been accused? Have you ever felt like you could not get out from underneath something you did back in high school, college, a mistake you made in business? Maybe you experienced a period of unfaithfulness

in your life. You just don't think you can ever get beyond this now. You're living with shame. your kids might see you differently. Maybe you went through a period in your life where you were addicted to alcohol, you did things that you were ashamed of, you wish you could get those years back.

My friend, Jesus wants to set you free from shame. He wants the accusers to leave and for you to be left alone with him where you can hear the words, I don't condemn you. Go, do not sin again. That's available to you today. that is available for you

when Jesus wrote in the dirt and the accusers left he's writing in the dirt for you today may your accusers leave and may you be alone with Jesus I want to pray for you and ask God to just really touch your heart today if you're struggling with shame

and to see Jesus writing in the dirt with you standing next to him and looking at you deep in the eyes with that look of you are free you are free if you haven't been to confession to talk about this i encourage you to do it to go to confession and say i want to confess this shame i want to deal with it once and for all i want to be free we truly want to be free let's pray in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit Amen. Lord, I thank you for the truth of your scripture and the story about setting the woman free.

Lord, we've all experienced shame and we need freedom in our lives. We thank you for setting us free from shame and dealing with the accusers in our lives. May we listen to you and look at you and hear your response, which is one of freedom and one of forgiveness. We accept that, Lord, today,

and we want to walk now in that new freedom. in that new life for indeed you have made all things new thank you Jesus thank you thank you thank you for this new beginning thank you for this new start we are so grateful in Jesus name amen the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit amen well I want to encourage you to take this show and what we taught on this show and share it. I do. I want you to share it with some friends that might know of someone who needs to hear it, to be set free. I'm sitting here in Steubenville, Ohio right now. I've been speaking at a couple of conferences in the summer conference series. And if you ever get a chance,

you really should take one of these conferences in at Steubenville in the summer. Really, really fruitful. But I'm sitting with a couple thousand people over these few days. that many of them have experienced this freedom that the Lord is talking about here. And my prayer is that you'll experience it too. It's great to be with people here on campus and it's great to be with you. And let's just celebrate the good things the Lord is doing.

Well, God bless you. Make sure you make some show notes. Let me know what you think of the show. Pass it on. And I look forward to talking to you next week. God bless you. Thank you.