One of the most powerful songs I have ever heard based on the passage featured in this morning’s sermon (John 8:1-12) is Michael Card’s ‘Scribbling in the Sand.’ The Bible does not tell us what Jesus wrote in the sand; this is obviously unimportant from the point of view of understanding the story, though many have speculated on the topic! It is interesting that Jesus took the time to write before He spoke and that when He did speak one simple sentence (‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’), this was enough to cause people to slink away. In the song, however, Michael Card talks as well about how the arts create a space and time when we can hear God.
‘It was silence; it was music;
It was art; it was absurd.
He stooped and shouted volumes
Without saying a single word
The same finger
Of the strong hand
That had written ten commands
For now was simply scribbling in the sand.’ (Michael Card, ‘Scribbling in the Sand’)