There are three transformational events in the Bible when we are told of God using His hands to write and send a message to a community of people.
First that I remember is when God wrote His Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12). It was handed down to Moses and it brought a great change in the lives of the Israelite nation. It became the physical proof of God’s covenant with the descendants of Jacob.
The second time in the Bible I remember God wrote another message is in the Book of the Prophet Daniel. During the Babylonian captivity, a monarch by the name of Belshazzar is believed to be the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar held a feast at his palace and desecrated the vessels from the Temple of Jerusalem, using them for drunkenness and eating unclean meats. The hand of the Lord suddenly appeared and wrote a different language on the wall (Daniel 5:5). Daniel was the only person able to interpret the writings. The message contains a prophecy which will befall immediately to the Babylonian empire. On the same night, the whole of civilization fell under the Medo Persian rule.
The third instance I remember a Divine person writes with his hand is in eighth chapter of the Gospel according to John.
Jesus was actually teaching at the temple when a group of religious leaders brought a woman accused of commiting adultery. They are asking him if He agrees that the woman must be stoned to death as prescribed in the laws of Moses. The Lord, as if not hearing them, stooped down and wrote using His finger on the ground (John 8:6). They continue asking Him so Jesus looked at them and said “It is also written on the law; let the one with no sin cast the first stone.” After that statement, Jesus went back to writing on the ground. John did not reveal the details on what He is writing about. Jesus was simply writing on the ground and it gave time for the people to reflect about His message. One by one, the people left beginning with the elders. Could it be that Jesus was rewriting the ten commandments? Could it be that upon seeing and reading the ten commandments, they realized that they weren’t perfect? Or it can be that Jesus wrote once again the message on the wall during the time of the Prophet Daniel? The people realized that they were also weighed and found wanting.
The two events from the Old Testament give us a hint of what Jesus could have written on the ground. Whatever that is – it will have something to do with how people examine themselves. The Ten Commandments provides us with the criterion on how to measure our commitment to God and to our neighbors.The writings on the wall invites us to look into ourselves and accept that we are all wanting before the Lord. No one is perfect. No human being can be qualified to cast the first stone to another.
The message of Lent is clear. Our offenses are not simply offenses against God. It is also an offense to His people. In as much as we have offended God, we also offend others whom He loves. But oftentimes, God is more forgiving to others more than we. We resent the wrongdoings of our neighbors as if we have never wronged anyone. God who has never wronged anyone understood the pain of a repentant sinner. We too must also bear the guilt and the pain they have in their conscience because we are sinners of equal foot. Let us pray for a heart open to God’s correction. Let us be discerning of messages God is sending us as He writes it in our hearts so we may never forget who we are.
Story by Paul Christian Caparos, Batch 2020
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