#163: Scars

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 ..."Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my fingers into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." John 20:25b

By the grace of God we will be rounding up our Easter related studies today. We began with looking at how pivotal submission to the will of God was to the grace that Jesus received for His journey to the cross. Last week we saw how the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was a prove of God's faithfulness and providence (intentional sovereignty) over the years. Today we will take a brief study on our resurrected and glorified LORD. May God grant us insight as we glean at His feet and may these not just remain Easter only lessons, but meditations for our everyday and season.

Every scar has s a story to tell. Scars are reminders of wounds. They bring bad memories to us when we look at them and we could go to such great lengths to conceal them from ourselves, but sometimes from others. So, are scars unhealable? I don't think so. So, why do they linger with us a life time?

John 20 tells the story of Jesus' resurrection and it tells the story that we commonly relate to with the tag: doubting Thomas. This story fascinates me every time I read it because I see it as an intentional act of God to leave our scars to tell His story. Jesus' body was a glorified body and it was raised from the dead; so which would have been easier: raising a dead body and healing a wound with no scars? It is obvious that healing a wound is easier. But Jesus' glorified body bore scars. Did God forget to heal the scars when He resurrected Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit? No. It was intentional.

John's account tells us that when Jesus appeared to His disciples, one of the reasons they believed was because He showed them His scars. Thomas' statement in our key text is something to resonate in our mind; that some people will never believe until they see His wounds and put their fingers into the marks.

This is why God leaves scars behind when He heals us. The scars are not a part of us that we should live in denial of. They are in fact meant to be testaments of God's faithfulness, love, grace and mercy. These scars may be internal or external. They may not be physically perceived, but we can conceal them by never talking about them (I John 1:1-4). When we read the bible we come across many moral failures, even from heroes of faith. Their failures were not concealed; that would have shown a false interpretation of the gospel. Generations after David ruled Israel, we still talk about his affair with Bathsheba. it is a deep scar that David would have loved blotted out forever; it is essentially a stain in his CV, but God has used that scar to teach us and bring us to faith.

There are several Thomases in society that will never believe till they see the scar. Are you still concealing your scar? Can God trust you to bear on your body the mark of Jesus Christ (Gal 6:17)?

Thought: By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). It is not just figurative; it is not just something distant. The scars of His stripes are still there to heal. It is an ever flowing fountain of life.

Related resources:

Article: Why We Never Leave Our Past Behind

Video: Why Jesus Kept His Scars

Video: All Scars Tell a Story

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