"1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”"
John 8:1-11
The phrase 'without sin' (7) must surely mean 'without this sin'. And it was this that convicted their consciences. It took only one sentence from our Lord to reduce these evil men to confusion, with the bare nerve ends of their consciences exposed, and they slunk away condemned, from the youngest to the eldest. But what did He write on the ground? The suggestions have been many and ingenious, but the truth is that we do not know what He wrote, if anything, and it is useless to speculate, in default of any clear indication from any other part of Scripture. It is clear that it is not necessary for us to know, if it is not revealed to us. What is explicit is the Lord's dealing with the woman. It has been said that there is no word of forgiveness spoken in the story, but it would be difficult to conceive of the words Jesus did speak to her in any other way than conveying forgiveness. We need have no fear that He was condoning her sin in any way. How could He? But it is at least worthy of notice that the only One in all the earth who was in a position morally to have thrown the first stone at her did not do it. No word of condemnation passed His lips or entered His thoughts. Doubtless, however, the sense of condemnation was very real in her, and that it led to an experience of forgiveness that was very wonderful. In fact, we do not generally need Him to condemn us when we sin; our hearts and consciences do all the condemning that is necessary - indeed we castigate ourselves at times remorselessly, so much so at times that the Lord has to say to us, 'My child, don't go on at yourself like that, receive My forgiveness and be at rest.' Why can we not simply take Him at His word?