“…He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” – John 20:20

I carry several physical scars on my body. Some are visible to other people, while some are not.  

For example, there are scars on my legs, which I got in freak accidents on the Honda motorcycle that I used to ride way back in Hoima.

Big or small, each scar on my body has a story behind it.

Almost every person has a scar of some sort, which may be a result of wounds caused by surgery, injuries, cuts or burns.

But people don’t carry physical scars only. Every one of us also carries emotional scars caused by betrayal, rejection, cruel words, malicious slander, failure, etc. 

In our fallen world, it’s practically impossible to live without wounds and scars – physical or emotional.

However, a scar is a symbol of healing and survival; it’s a testimony that you lived to tell the story. It could have been worse.

In our meditation today, we reflect on our Lord Jesus trying to identify Himself to His disbelieving disciples after His resurrection.

Of course He had trouble convincing them that He was the one.

It took being shown His scars for them to eventually be convinced that He was indeed their Master.

What we note from this is that Jesus rose from the dead with His wounds, and they became His most important form of identity.

The first stanza in Natalie Grant’s hit song; ‘No Stranger,’ says:

“You are no stranger to the scar

So You can have my wounded heart

You weren’t protected from the pain

So You can hold me when I break.”

“But because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received.” –

Isaiah 53:5, GNB.

Why were wounds on Jesus’ body not healed? He chose to keep the scars from the nails and the spear in His limbs and ribs so they would remain a constant reminder to both heaven and earth of His love for you, of the sacrifice He paid for you and of the pain He endured.

When the frightened and disillusioned disciples saw His scars, the Bible says “they were glad.” 

Jesus’ scars are our songs of victory; they are symbols of triumph over anything that life could ever throw at us.

The love letter of His love for us is written on His body in scars!

Though Paul was not one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples, He saw Jesus’ scars during the dramatic vision on the road to Damascus.

In Galatians 6:17, Paul says he bore on his body the scars of Jesus – referring to the scars from the beatings and stoning he suffered for Christ’s sake.

In Bible times, it was common for a religious devotee to be ‘branded’ with the mark of the god he worshipped.

So Paul describes the scars on his body as the proof of his devotion to Christ.

If you really love Jesus with all your heart, you will have to show some ‘scars’ – resulting from suffering for His Name.

The scars resulting from our Lord’s suffering on the Cross became the undeniable symbols of His sacrificial love and the source of healing for our own physical and emotional wounds.

“But because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received.” (Isaiah 53:5, Good News Bible).

However painful they might be, the scars or wounds we carry will never come even close to the ones our Lord Jesus still carries, in comparison.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, you’re no stranger to scars and your scars will forever be my songs of triumph over any kind of wound and pain. Amen!