"After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord" (John 20:20 NIV).
Here I sit, kind of gathering some thoughts for Easter,… reading about the resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapter twenty. Now, I have read this story plenty of times, but this time God opened my eyes to see something I had never noticed before.
It was later in the day…after Mary Magdelene had discovered the empty tomb, and ran to tell the others that the tomb was empty. The disillusioned band of disciples were huddled together in their hiding place, and the Bible tells us Jesus appeared in their midst. He didn't knock. He didn't open the door. He just simply appeared.
"Peace be with you," Jesus said. But the disciples didn't recognize Him. He looked like Jesus,…he talked like Jesus,… but how...how could it be? In order to convince the disciples that He was indeed the risen Christ, Jesus made a simple gesture. He held out His hands and revealed the nail pierced hands. Then he pulled aside his garment to reveal the scar in His sword pierced side. It was then...that they believed.
As I read these verses, God replayed the scenes in my mind's eye, and finally it captured my attention ... "'Peace be with you!' After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord" (John 20:1-20). They didn't recognize Jesus until He showed them His scars. It was almost as if God were saying to me, “This is what I wanted you to see.” They did not recognize Jesus until He showed them His scars,…and this is how others still recognize Him today...when men and women who have experienced the healing of past wounds are not ashamed to show their scars to a hurting world.
See, Jesus did not have to retain the scars of the crucifixion on His resurrected body. He could have returned without them. After all, He is the one who put new flesh on the hands and feet of the lepers. So, why do you think Jesus' kept His scars when he returned from the grave? He chose to keep the scars, I believe, because they were precious to Him... that's how others would recognize who He was.
Do you know it is still the way that people recognize Jesus today,… when we are not ashamed to show the scars in our own lives? What do you think of when you look at the scars on your own body? What comes to mind? How can you use the scars in your own life (the ones that are on your soul) to bring glory to God? It happens when we reveal the wounds that are now healed….when we tell about the Healer who made it possible.
Dear God, thank You that Jesus kept His scars when He rose from the dead. I pray that I will not be ashamed of the scars in my own life, but that people will recognize the Healer in my life through my story. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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