The Scarred Savior; Permanent Marks of the Lamb

The other disciples told him, “We have seen the LORD.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

John 20:25

There are multiple entries on pages of tattered journals where I describe what I believe my heart to look like, scarred and twisted, marked deep by hateful words and actions, ugly. This image haunted me for a long time as I wondered if a heart like that could be loved, could possibly be softened enough to love others. Walls hide hearts like that, built to keep others out, to keep others from seeing the truth, to keep others from poking at raw places.

And then there is Jesus, freely offering His scars as a testimony to His story.

When Jesus encounters His disciples after His resurrection, He finds them crippled by fear and overcome with doubt. In the gospels of Luke (ch. 24) and John (ch. 20), Jesus offers to them the wounds on His hands, His feet and His side as evidence that He is the resurrected LORD. Thomas is forever tagged as “doubting”, but the scriptures tell us that he was not alone. The disciples doubted the resurrected Christ. So Jesus reveals the marks on His body as evidence to His story. And He offers them before they ask.

Why does Jesus keep His scars?

There is little doubt that Jesus could have left His scars behind in the tomb with the linen face covering. His ministry is defined by miraculous signs involving the broken human body. Just prior to His death, He heals an ear that Peter recklessly removes from Malchus’s head (Luke 22:51). And then there is the women who had endured years of bleeding, the dead boy and girl, the lepers, the blind, the deaf and the lame. All of these, and more, healed. Jesus is, after all, the great physician.

Why does Jesus keep His scars?

Jesus keeps His scars as evidence of His life on earth as a man, His physical death as a man and His physical resurrection as a man. He raises His hands and says to us, come and touch, see, and understand. Jesus invites us to come and believe. If Jesus was not a man, did not live, die and rise again, we have no hope for anything beyond this messed up life. Trace His scars and we can trace hope in better things beyond today.

Jesus keeps His scars so we can identify Him. Before the disciples recognized Jesus, they recognized His wounds. Have you ever wondered if Jesus will be the only one in Heaven whose body is marked by scars? Our own scars, healed beyond recognition, our bodies made new. There will be no doubt as to the identity of the Lamb, He will be the one with the scarred hands and feet.

Jesus keeps His scars to identify with us, His broken ones. There is no hiding from Jesus what we hide from the world. He sees all the way through, all the way in and He does not poke at our tender spots, He covers them, allowing them to heal. He remembers His own brokenness and whispers, “Look, I was broken too. I know.” Jesus is absolutely free of sin, but He is not free from brokenness. He knows.

Why does Jesus keep His scars?

Jesus keeps His scars to help us know it is ok to share our own. He shared His, without being asked, to those who needed to see.

Our scars too give testimony to our stories, to our spiritual resurrection, to our promise of beauty from ashes. Our scars too allow others to recognize us, to relate to us. Our scars too allow us to identify with others, with those who have been shattered and need encouragement. Oswald Chambers in his classic devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, pens it best, “If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people”. God intends that our wounds, our scars and our stories be used to breathe new life into others who have been through similar circumstances.

In both Luke and John, Jesus finds His disciples in dire need of encouragement. They are hiding in fear, knowing the general public can identify them as the crucified Jewish man’s followers. Their perception of what Jesus would do in Jerusalem has been shattered, and they have no direction, other than trying to slip unseen back into the rhythm of their before Christ lives. Only, they can’t really go back, too much has happened. They have seen too much, they have too many questions, their lives have not only been disrupted, their lives have been upended. And so they hide, disillusioned, forgetting the promises and the words of the prophets. Jesus comes to them in their most anxious hour and He reveals to them His wounds, inviting them to believe all of it, everything they have seen, heard and read, everything they have experienced in their physical realm. He gives them peace and leaves them with joy and gladness.

I am no longer appalled by my past or the scars it left behind. I perceive the jagged edges of my heart to be more like a worn patchwork quilt than an ugly mess, softened by the One who heals, covers and makes new. Trace the scars on my heart and they will lead you straight to Jesus.

Don’t hide your scars, they trace the storyline that will make a way for others to see Jesus.

Why does Jesus keep His scars?

Because He loves us.

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Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered Him, “My LORD and my God”.

John 20:26-28