Easter Scars
“Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here,
and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:27
One detail in the Easter story has always intrigued me. Why did Jesus keep the scars from His crucifixion? Presumably He could have had any resurrected body He wanted, and yet He chose one identifiable mainly by scars that could be seen and touched. Why?
I believe the story of Easter would be incomplete without those scars on the hands, the feet, and the side of the Lord Jesus (John 20:27). Human beings dream of pearly straight teeth and wrinkle-free skin and ideal body shapes. We dream of an unnatural state: the perfect body. But for the Lord, being confined in a skeleton and human skin was the unnatural state. The scars are a permanent reminder of His days of confinement and suffering on our planet.
From the perspective of heaven, those scars represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Even that event, though, turned into a memory. Because of Easter, we can hope that the tears we shed, the struggles we endure, the emotional pain, the heartache over lost friends and loved ones—all these will become memories, like scars of our Lord. Scars never completely go away, but neither do they hurt any longer. Someday we will have re-created bodies and a re-created heaven and earth (Rev 21:4). We will have a new start. Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our own.
Bible Reading
John 20:24-31.
Prayer
Thank You, Father, for the hope that the resurrection of Jesus brings—for now and for eternity. I put my trust in You today. Amen.
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