And the woman looked into his eyes and saw compassion. How many times have we been caught doing the wrong thing? There’s the shame of fessing up to a loved one that we have been disloyal, not at our best or just plain stupid.The Pharisees, the law enforcers, had a habit of trying to put Jesus in difficult situations. If he answered stone the person to death, he
would lose the name he had gained for mercy and never again would be called the friend of sinners. Second, he would come into collision with Roman law, for Jews had no power to carry out the death sentence on anyone. If he said that the sinner should be pardoned, it could immediately be said that he was teaching people to break the law of Moses, and that he was condoning and even encouraging them to sin.
So, before he answers their questions, he does a strange thing: he bends down and writes in the sand. We could conjecture from now until the end of time about why he did this and will come up with no answers.
I would propose that our Lord bent down and wrote in the sand so that he would not have to look anyone in the eye, because if he did, he knew that he would be able to read their minds. First of all, if he had looked at the woman, her eyes would have been full of shame. If he looked at the Pharisees, he would have seen anger and hatred, both for the woman and for him.
But think for a moment, what would the woman have seen in Jesus' eyes? Consider his words: "Woman, has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she answered. Jesus said, "Nor do I condemn you." If we had been there, we would have probably seen a look of forgiveness or what could be called the "look of love". What the woman would have seen would have been the eyes of compassion.
This morning we might ask ourselves: what do people see in our eyes? Do they see anger or hatred? Like the Pharisees, are we quick to cast an accusatory finger at the wrongs of another while failing to acknowledge the sins we have committed ourselves? Are we quick to point out the speck in another's eyes while failing to see the beam in our own?
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that what others see are eyes full of compassion. Help us to surrender the anger, hatred and prejudice of our past history and turn to the Lord. And once we do, then truly, others will be able to look into our eyes and see the “look of love.”
