The band I Am They has a song called Scars in which they say "I'm thankful for Your scars/ 'Cause without them I wouldn't know Your heart." When I heard the song again recently, I remembered once hearing a pastor point out that Jesus chose to keep His scars from the crucifixion. God's power brought Him back from the dead, remember, so that same power could certainly have healed the wounds from the nails in his hands and feet and the sword in His side.
We know He still has the scars because Thomas doubted that the others had really seen Jesus and he said, "I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side" (John 20:25). When Jesus appeared again, Thomas was there and Jesus said to him, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!" (v. 27). He couldn't have invited Thomas to touch scars that don't exist, so that means He must have kept them.
Why would He choose to keep reminders of such a painful thing? Wouldn't He have wanted a new, completely whole body? Why choose to have those scars for all eternity? While I obviously can't know for sure, I can think of two possible reasons.
First, maybe it was because He knew Thomas would doubt and would need that proof, which would then be recorded for all of us to read about. It's important to notice that Jesus didn't chastise Thomas for wanting proof. He just showed Thomas what he wanted to see without a word of reproach. That tells me that there's nothing wrong with doubting sometimes or with wanting reassurances. God isn't disappointed with us when we have doubts or when we question Him. He knows us fully and He can still use us to help others come to know Him. Doubts don't disqualify us.
The second possibility for why Jesus chose to keep His scars is that we are His prized possession and it was those scars that paid the price for us. James wrote, "He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession" (James 1:18). Isn't that amazing? Out of all the world, God chooses us as His prized possession and He bears the scars of our purchase even to this day.
Remember, Jesus did all the work for our salvation. The only thing we have to do is accept His offer of salvation, which was made possible when He died on the cross to pay the price of our sins. We don't have to work for it, we don't have to earn it and we don't have to be worthy of it. His scars show that He paid the price for us and He considers our salvation to be worth the price.
Background quilt is my newest pattern release, Hollow Jewels |
I love that song! I just read (most of) your blog post to my husband, and we're both sitting here, never having realized that Jesus KEPT his scars... We've read / heard the part about Thomas many times, but just didn't catch the significance. I love your reasoning for them - it's reassuring and comforting to "know" that.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this post today!