Asking the 'WHY' questions

One of the very earliest ‘rules’ I was taught as a young man when I was studying scripture, was to learn to always ask the question, ‘WHY?’, rather than asking the usual questions that most of us ask when studying scripture, and that is, ‘WHAT and HOW?’.

It’s something I’ve learned to understand as I’ve got older, as to WHY that ‘rule’ is so important.  In asking WHAT questions, we often get tied up in the legality and the literal versus symbolic arguments and debates that so often cause confusion and in some very sad cases, division among Christians.   Let me give you an example:

For years, biblical scholars have debated and asked, “WHAT was it that Jesus wrote in the sand when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him?”

Some argue He wrote the sins of the accusers.  Some argue He wrote scripture.  On and on it goes.  Almost without exception we will all have our own thoughts.  However, I believe we are asking the wrong question when we ask ‘WHAT did Jesus write?’   The more appropriate question here is, “WHY did Jesus write?”

Imagine the scene – Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, crowds were listening as His reputation was growing almost daily.  They were enthralled at the words and teachings of this Rabbi.  When suddenly the moment of awe and teaching is lost as the scene is interrupted with angry shouts and venomous accusations as the religious leaders throw this woman in front of Jesus and question Him regarding His thoughts on WHAT they should do, according to the law.

We rightly often focus on WHAT Jesus said.  His ten word answer alone, was surely the epitome of wisdom and challenge.  “Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone”.  

But in the moments before and after He spoke those words, he did something which I believe was much more powerful and effective than even those powerful words. 

He wrote in the sand.

WHAT he wrote, may well be the subject of much discussion.  But if it was never important enough to be written in God’s word, why should it pain us now to ask WHAT He wrote?  Rather, asking the question, "WHY he wrote in the sand?" opens up a whole new perspective and understanding on the divine nature of our God.

Time stood still.  In that moment of mob fuelled anger and human aggression, Jesus sat almost child-like and wrote in the sand.  He could have risen instantly and spoke those ten words, but He didn’t.  WHY?  

Perhaps, in that ‘silence’, as the mob and the crowd waited for His response, Jesus created a moment in time.  A moment for calm.  A moment for angry voices to lose their momentum of evil.  A moment in time that, as those hands which had created the universe, placed the stars and the planets in their orbits, hands which had healed the lame and raised the dead, now pushed grains of sand, simply to create a calm.  A moment of stillness.

How often, even if our own words are wise and full of sense, are we too quick to speak?

Maybe we need to take time to stop before we rise to speak.  How wiser would it be to push the grains of sand, and create our own moment in time.  A time where anger can subside. 

Perhaps in that moment, all Jesus was saying was this:

“Be still and know, that I am God!”

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