Focus: Jesus' Scars

Text: Jh.20:27

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."

Thomas insisted he must see the scars on the body of Jesus Christ as a condition for believing in the reality of His resurrection.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was beaten and battered beyond recognition. He had bruises all over His body. He was physically maltreated, and His bodily form was marred and disfigured. A crown of thorns was driven into His scull. He was pierced by the side and nailed to a cross on His hands and feet. He had on Him indelible scars, scars that even His bodily resurrection and transformation could not erase.

At the resurrection of the Christian believers and the transformation of the living saints, vile bodies shall be changed. Our bodies shall be fully restored to what it was originally designed to be. But in Christ's case, is it not remarkable to see that His resurrection body still retains His death-wounds? The scars of Calvary are truly unerasable. John records that in the midst of the twenty-four elders "stood a Lamb as it had been slain." Right on the throne of the universe our Lord Jesus Christ is still having the marks of the crucifixion. They are lasting forever.

His scars are indeed His stars of honor. His SCARS give us memories of His:

*Sacrificial love

*Committed loyalty

*Atoning death

*Radical love

*Self-surrendering love

No greatness is ever achieved in this life without scars. True love truly suffers. Real love often goes through hell in the hands of loved ones. Authentic love is today suspect due to human fears. Acts of self-sacrifice are constantly misunderstood. Human love is rooted in fear, but divine love is free and fearless.

The scars of Christ speak of the accomplishment of redeeming love. John reports of the redeemed, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev.5:9). It is for those scars that we can sing and celebrate in the new earth. Hallelujah!

Where are your own scars for Christ? Are you a scarless Christian? Anything you are suffering for the sake of Christ? Paul says, "From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Gal.6:17).

May the Lord touch us deeply by the scars of Christ! Upon seeing those scars, Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" (Jh.20:28). We will forever worship and acknowledge Him as our Lord and God for those scars. He went all the way for us and incurred in His body an indelible and eternal wounds to the glory of our God. The scars remain, but they no longer hurt. By those scars Thomas had proof of the resurrection of Christ. Christianity is resting on historical and timeless proofs - the scars of Jesus Christ. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter