John Calvin Commentary John 8:6

"And this they said, trying him, that they might have [whereof] to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground." — John 8:6 (ASV)

And Jesus stooping down. By this attitude he intended to show that he despised them. Those who conjecture that he wrote this or the other thing, in my opinion, do not understand his meaning. Nor do I approve of the ingenuity of Augustine, who thinks that in this manner the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is pointed out, because Christ did not write on tables of stone (Exodus 31:18), but on man, who is dust and earth.

For Christ rather intended, by doing nothing, to show how unworthy they were of being heard; just as if any person, while another was speaking to him, were to draw lines on the wall, or to turn his back, or to show, by any other sign, that he was not attending to what was said. Thus, in the present day, when Satan attempts, by various methods, to draw us aside from the right way of teaching, we ought disdainfully to pass by many things which he holds out to us. The Papists tease us, to the utmost of their power, by many trifling objections, as if they were throwing clouds into the air. If godly teachers are laboriously employed in examining each of those objections, they will begin to weave Penelope’s web; and therefore, delays of this sort, which do nothing but hinder the progress of the Gospel, are wisely disregarded.