What is the only man made thing in heaven? I believe it is the scars on the body of Jesus. What do those scars teach us?
When one goes on vacation, they so often bring back a souvenir. When Jesus visited earth as the God-man, he brought back a souvenir, but it was not something cheap and temporary. He still bears those wounds if I understand Revelation correctly. For in Revelation we find Jesus standing as "a Lamb as it had been slain." Here stands the Lamb of God with the marks of Calvary still upon it. This description in Revelation along with other verses seems to indicate that the marks of Jesus’ death remain unaltered throughout eternity as a constant reminder of the cost of our redemption.
Jesus admonishes Thomas to, "Behold my hands." Scars tell a story. Let us see what we can glean from our mediation upon the hands of Jesus.
I. The nail-scarred hands are the EVIDENCE of PASSION.
Thomas, even, in his unbelief, is wise; he turns to the Lord’s wounds and scars for comfort. His wounds are never failing consolation.
The wounds inform me that Jesus suffered. Pain and suffering is a problem that is all too common for man. However, why did God suffer? Those wounds in His hands speak of great suffering. When we have pain or suffering we do not normally chose it, but Jesus chose pain and suffering. Why chose suffering?
The nail-scarred hands are the tokens of the Saviour’s love. Why the wounds in your hands? Why the suffering of the cross? Simply because God loves us!
Romans 5:8
Galatians 2:20 "....the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Ephesians 5:2...."Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us."
Galatians 1:4 "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world."
A. The PERSON of Love
B. The PRICE of love
Those scars remind us of the greatness of love.
C. The PURPOSE of love
deliver us from bondage...His death was a rescue operation, the only possible means of saving men form the doomed world and for eternal death by providing for them eternal life.
His wounds are the tokens of His love for us.
There was once a lady who had to go into the hospital for surgery. The hospital priest came to see here and after a little while asked her, "Are there any sins in your life that you need to confess to me."
She very politely replied, "Let me see you hands." The priest held them out and after carefully examining them she stated, "I’m sorry, you can’t forgive sins. The only one who can forgive me of my sins has nail prints in His hands."
There is no restoration for a sinking faith like the sight of the wounded Saviour! How can God ever forget you and I? We are eternally graven upon the palms of His hands.
II. The nail-scarred hands are the CONFIDENCE of PITY
Jesus knows what physical pain means. He knows what a broken heart means. Can you not perceive that? Those prints upon His hands declare that He understands pain. Gaze at His wounds and find comfort! Hebrews reminds us that we do not have a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Those souvenirs that Jesus took back to heaven declare to us that He has been there. He understands our pain.
The Chinese, when they paint the word for love, paint an emblem for love and superimpose on it an emblem for pain. That is the highest kind of love that they know, pain love. God’s love allows humanity to suffer, and then God’s love suffers with humanity.
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW HUMANITY TO SUFFER? The cruelest thing that God could do for fallen humanity is to allow them to live in a painless world. See Genesis 3:17. God not curse the ground for their judgment but for their sake. The ground was cursed for their sake because God loved them. If it were not for pain, fallen humanity would never know anything was wrong. PAIN IS A GIFT THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING IS WRONG.
A. Pain has a protecting purpose.
Dr. Paul Brand, an imminent hand surgeon and who worked for over twenty years with lepers said, "I would not eliminate pain because pain is too valuable.... I can tell the health of the body in many ways by its ability to sense pain." Lepers lose the ability to feel, they lose their ability to sense pain, and as a result, many things happen to damage them because they no have the protecting power of pain. God allows pain for a protecting purpose.
B. Pain has a correcting purpose.
Pain corrects. Pain tells us something is wrong and needs to be corrected (example of hand on a hot stove). The worst thing God could do is to allow a sinful and fallen humanity to live in a world without pain.
C. Pain has a unifying purpose.
Pain has a way of unifying the body (example - hit your thumb with a hammer ...grab it, pop it into your mouth, and then you do a little dance). When one member of the body suffers, every member of the body suffers.
Jesus willingly, voluntarily identified himself with our humanity that He might share the load of pain with us. His pain unified us with Him.
"For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Jesus is the one we can go to not only for salvation but for sympathy as well. He came not only to save man but He came in order that He could feel everything we feel so that He could be a merciful and faithful high priest.
See Hebrews 2:10. The word "translated" means, "compete, effective, and adequate." Jesus could not have become an adequate Savior and High Priest had He not become Man and suffered and died.
III. The nail-scarred hands are an EXPERIENCE with which TO PROVE
What was it that demonstrated to Thomas that this was indeed the risen Jesus? The wounds and the scars on the body. They were the marks of His identity. This is Jesus who conquered death, and the wounds are the marks of His crucifixion. The thing that convinced Thomas were the wounds. The proof was in the wounds (the mark of suffering).
The wounds, the suffering you may have to go through may be the experience with which to prove that Christ is sufficient, and that God is real in your life.
See Daniel 3: 15, 29.
Use your wounds and scars as an experience with which to prove the reality of the risen Lord grace in your life. Use your wounds to prove to others the sufficiency of His grace.
Your attitude in affliction may be the very platform that God will use to prove the reality of the risen Christ.
Conclusion
A small orphaned boy lived with his grandmother. One night their house caught fire. The elderly grandmother, attempting to rescue the little boy perished in the smoke and flames. As the crowd gathered the young lads cries for help were heard above the crackling of the blaze. No one seemed to know what to do because the front of the house was now a mass of flames. Suddenly a stranger rushed from the crowd and circled to the back of the house where he spotted an iron pipe that reached an upstairs widow where the boy’s voice came from. He disappeared for a minute, and then reappeared with the boy in his arms. Amid the cheers of the crowd, he climbed down the hot iron pipe as the boy hung around his neck.
Weeks later, a hearing was heard in the local town hall to determine the custody of the lad. Many sympathetic for the lad and desiring him were allowed to speak briefly. One man said, "Well I have a big farm. Every young lad needs the out doors to romp and play in." Another told that they were a teacher with a huge library and good give the lad a good education. One by one others spoke. "I am wealthy, and I could give the boy a farm, education and much more."
Finally, after those who were eager to speak had pleaded their arguments for the boy, the chairman of the meeting asked, "Is there anyone else who would like to say a word before we make a decision?"
From the back seat rose a stranger who had slipped in unnoticed. As he walked toward the front, deep suffering showed on his face. Reaching the front of the room, he stood directly in front of the little boy. Slowly the stranger removed his hands from his pockets. A gasp went up from the crowd. The little boy, whose eyes had been focused on the floor until now, looked up. The man hands were terribly scarred. Suddenly the boy emitted a cry of recognition. Before him stood the man who had saved his life. His hands were scarred from climbing up and down the hot pipe. With a leap of joy the boy threw himself around the stranger’s neck and held on for life. The farmer quietly rose and left. The teacher followed. The man of wealth departed as well without a word. Everyone departed, leaving the boy and his rescuer whom had pleaded his case without a word. Those scarred and marred hands spoke more effectively than words
.
Much to glean from at a look at the wounds of Jesus......... announce His love, assure us of His sympathy and compassion, and authenticate his resurrection.
