Many of us carry other marks on our bodies…Scars. Most of the time we consider scars to be ugly, but they usually have a story behind them..right? Is it possible that even scars could be considered a thing of beauty?
The prophet Isaiah wrote:
He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)
Scars mark the wounds that were inflicted on Jesus - His hands, His feet, His side, His head.
If you know anything about Jesus’ crucifixion then you probably know that He was beat head to toe. Likely covering Him in scars, but the more obvious scars were on His hands and His feet. But much like us, His scars were not merely physical. He had soul scars. His friends betrayed Him. His family abandoned Him. He was forgotten. Forsaken. Falsely accused. Despised and Rejected.
Yet when Jesus appeared to His followers after dying on the cross and rising from the dead, one of the first things He did was to show them His scars. Isn’t that interesting? He didn’t try to hide them. In fact, it’s as if Jesus was announcing, “You know it’s Me because of these scars!” when He said, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself !” (Luke 24:39).
Now, I really have had to stop and wonder…. Why does Jesus still have scars? He is God Almighty in a resurrected, glorified body! I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to get rid of any of my scars when I get my new body in heaven. Though I don’t know exactly what glorified bodies will look like, I do know that Jesus has all power and authority and I don’t think He had to keep His scars. I think He chose to. His scars are evidence that He was wounded for us. His wounds heal our wounds. His scars are proof that we can be healed! There is VICTORY in his scars!! They are statements of His unending love for us.
Jesus’ scars became Beauty Marks. His suffering was transformed into purpose when He brought salvation to the world. And His scars tell a story. Death could not stop Him. Sin could not keep Him in the grave. He kept the scars to prove that because He was victorious, we can be too!
And so Jesus is telling us that we don’t have to hide our scars. Because if we have been healed by His wounds, our scars tell a story too. One of victory. Redemption. Transformation. The power and beauty of God’s amazing ability to bring supernatural healing to painful wounds.
Jesus chose not to erase, minimize, or hide his scars. He left them to remind you that every time you doubt, every time you fear, every time you hurt, you can be healed. And every time we display our scars to the world it is evidence that He WILL heal.
