Tablets and Sand
Lessons that lie just below the surface
In his 2014 commencement speech to the University of Texas graduating seniors, Admiral William McRaven shared ten lessons he learned from basic Seal Training, the first being to make his bed. The Admiral described how every morning during his six months at Coronado, California, his instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would inspect his bed. One would wonder why, of all things, they emphasized what could seem to be a mundane task. Yes, there is undoubtedly some value in making one’s bed. It certainly takes you closer to having a clean and tidy room. However, for the graduates, there must have been a greater lesson to be learned from the task. The Admiral went on to provide insight into the daily exercise. “If you accomplish the first task of the day well, then the rest of the day has a better chance of going well.” Okay, lesson one, task completion. But was it so important for the graduating seniors to know before beginning a new chapter in their journey toward independence and adulthood?
As an educator, I understand that some lessons are crafted with explicit learning outcomes, surface-level, and quickly grasped. However, other lessons, perhaps some of the greatest, are implicit and lie just below the surface. Yes, making one’s bed requires discipline, and that, of course, is important for long-term success. However, just as important is the attention to the smallest detail. As the esteemed Admiral stated, “If you can’t do the little things right, you have little chance of doing the big things right.” - Admiral William McRaven
There are many lessons to be learned from the life and teachings of Jesus. The gospels are full of accounts of Jesus teaching His disciples, teaching the masses, and, at times, teaching and rebuking the Pharisees. In one such account found in John 8:1-11, Jesus extends one of the most potent and profound lessons in the Gospels to a group of Pharisees and scribes who confronted Him with a woman they had found in the act of adultery.
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2. Early in the morning He came again into the Temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4. they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” (John 8:1-5)
Pause. Let’s look and see what the Law of Moses states.
Regarding Stoning (Law of Testimony)
“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” (Deuteronomy 19:15)
Regarding Adultery (Laws of Morality)
“If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the veil from Israel.” (Deuteronomy 22:22-24)
According to the Law, the Pharisees were correct. Yet, Jesus’s reaction is puzzling. Let’s continue.
“6. They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.” (John 8:6)
I have always wondered what prompted Jesus to pause and write, not to mention what he carved into the ground with His finger.
“7. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8. Again He stooped and wrote on the ground.” (John 8:7-8)
It is important to note that the Bible often contains details that we may overlook but are, in fact, significant. First, Jesus’s answer was clever, considering the circumstances. He knew they had approached Him to try to trap Him. There are many such accounts in the Bible where Jesus outwits the Pharisees with His command of Scripture. However, there is so much more lying just below the surface. Let’s consider the act of stooping and writing. Why was this detail shared? What significance does it hold? We must explore a small but significant detail about the Law to understand. Small in the sense that it is often overlooked when we think about the Law. Exodus 31:18 states,
“When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”
It is one thing to think that the Law was dictated to Moses by God. The weight of the Law takes on a whole new significance when we consider that God physically wrote it with His finger and provided it to Moses to share with the people of Israel. So why did Jesus stoop and write in the sand? The Pharisees prided themselves on being the keepers of the Law. However, Jesus revealed their hypocrisy when He called for the one without sin to execute the Law. John 8:9-11 states,
“When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, with the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11. She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:9-11)
On the surface, we understand that no one among the Pharisees was bold enough to claim to be without sin and rightly so. More importantly, they failed to realize that the only one worthy of judgment and executing the Law was the very man they had challenged with the Law, Jesus. They sought to force Jesus’s hand by citing the Law of Moses without realizing that the same hand that wrote the Law was writing in the sand before them.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham born, I am.” (John 8:49)
The Law served as a measuring stick for the people of Israel. It contained the highest standards for living and worship and called for a level of holiness that was nearly impossible to attain. The Law pointed to the one and only person who could fulfill its requirements: Jesus. He completed the impossible task when He died on the cross as a sin sacrifice for each and every one of us.
Let us learn this lesson from the Pharisees. Today, we read and study about Jesus’s life and follow His commandments, not so that we can say that we are righteous. We do so simply because we love Him. As it is written,
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:14)
And let us not forget that the one whose hands they nailed to the cross was more than a carpenter, a fisherman or a teacher of men; he was and is, and for eternity will be, in fact, truly, The Great I am.
Yours in Christ,
Brad
