Scripture Reading: John 20:19-28
It is the fourth Sunday of Easter, a season that stretches from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost. During this time, we remember and celebrate the risen Christ and His appearances to many, including His disciples. The resurrection was not a distant or abstract event; it was personal, visible, and transformative for those who encountered Him.
In the passage before us, Jesus first appeared to His disciples, but Thomas was not with them. When the others told him that they had seen the Lord, Thomas struggled to believe. He responded with a deeply human condition: unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. Thomas wanted tangible proof. He wanted to encounter Jesus for himself.
Yet Jesus did not give up on him. In grace and patience, Christ appeared again to the disciples, this time with Thomas present. He invited Thomas to do exactly what he had asked for: to see His hands and to touch His wounds. Scripture does not say that Thomas actually reached out and touched Him. The moment he saw Jesus and the scars, something shifted within him. He simply declared, “My Lord and my God.”
We often label Thomas as “doubting Thomas,” defining him by his moment of uncertainty. In reality, we are not so different. We all wrestle with doubt at times. We all have moments when belief feels fragile. But this passage is not merely about doubt; it is about the grace of God that meets us in the midst of our doubts. It reveals a Savior who does not turn away from our questions but comes closer, offering Himself as the answer.
There is something deeply significant about what Jesus chose to reveal. He showed His scars. Thomas had asked for proof, and Jesus offered His wounded hands and pierced side. Yet the power of that moment was not in the physical act of touching, but in the sight of those scars. The scars of Jesus had a ministry of their own.
Scars are not usually pleasant to look at. As human beings, we often try to hide them. Many of us carry visible scars from surgeries, injuries, or accidents. They are reminders of pain, of something we endured. Yet they are also reminders that we survived. A scar tells a story that a wound has healed.
In the same way, the scars we carry in life—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—are not something to be hidden in shame. They are testimonies of God’s grace. They speak of the times when we walked through pain and suffering, yet were sustained and brought through by God.
Jesus was not ashamed of His scars. Even after the resurrection, when He had a transformed and glorified body, He still bore them. He could have appeared without any mark of suffering, yet He chose to keep those wounds visible. Why? Because they were not signs of defeat. They were evidence of victory. They proclaimed that He had conquered sin, suffering, and death.
The cross looked like failure on Friday. To the world, it appeared to be the end. But on Sunday morning, the resurrection declared that it was not defeat, but triumph. The scars remained, not as reminders of loss, but as declarations of victory. They were proof that death had been overcome.
Our own scars speak in a similar way. They say, “I was wounded, but I am healed.” They say, “I went through something painful, but I am still here.” A wound is pain in progress, but a scar is pain that has been overcome. It is a sign that healing has taken place and that life continues.
No one celebrates wounds or incisions. Yet we are grateful for what they accomplish. A surgical scar, for example, is not something we admire for its appearance, but we value it because it represents healing and restored life. In the same way, the scars we carry—whether from loss, hardship, betrayal, or struggle—are not meaningless. They carry a message of survival, of endurance, and ultimately of hope.
The Bible gives us many examples of people whose lives were marked by scars that became testimonies of God’s faithfulness. Joseph is one such example. He was betrayed by his own brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery. He endured not only physical hardship but deep emotional wounds. He found himself in a foreign land, far from home, trying to survive as a young man in an unfamiliar culture.
Joseph carried many scars, yet he did not allow them to define him in bitterness. He trusted that God was present even in the midst of his suffering. In time, God raised him up to a position of authority in Egypt. When he finally faced his brothers again, he spoke words that reveal the redemptive power of God: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” His scars became a testimony that God can turn even the darkest moments into something good.
Jacob offers another powerful example. His life was marked by deception and fear. He deceived his father and his brother, and as a result, he lived in exile. When he finally returned home, he was filled with fear about facing his brother Esau. On the night before that encounter, Jacob found himself alone, wrestling through the night with a mysterious figure—an encounter he later recognized as being with God.
In that struggle, Jacob was changed. His hip was touched, and he walked away with a limp—a physical reminder of that encounter. He also received a new name: Israel. The limp became a lifelong scar, but it was also a testimony. It reminded him that he had encountered God, that he had been transformed, and that his identity had been changed. He walked differently because he had met God.
Some of the deepest scars we carry come from relationships—betrayal, harsh words, broken trust, or love that did not endure. These wounds often run deeper than physical injuries. Yet even these scars can become places where God’s healing is revealed. They remind us that we have been brought through experiences we once thought would break us.
Peter’s story reflects this as well. He denied Jesus at a critical moment, failing when it mattered most. Yet Jesus did not abandon him. After the resurrection, Jesus sought Peter out and restored him. He asked him three times, “Do you love me?”—a process that mirrored Peter’s three denials. Through this, Peter was healed and recommissioned. His failure became part of his testimony, and he went on to become a foundational leader in the early church.
The apostle Paul also bore many scars. He endured beatings, imprisonment, and suffering for the sake of the gospel. Yet those scars gave him credibility and strength. They were evidence of his faithfulness and of God’s sustaining grace in his life.
Scars carry hope. They remind us that there is a God who walks with us through our pain and who stands on the other side, waiting for us. Even as we face the uncertainties of life, and ultimately the reality of death, God promises His presence. He walks with us through the valley and leads us beyond it.
As we reflect on our own lives, we recognize that each of us carries scars of some kind. They may be physical, emotional, or spiritual. They may come from loss, hardship, or seasons of deep struggle. Yet these scars are not something to hide in shame. They are testimonies of God’s faithfulness.
The apostle Paul writes in Romans that we glory in our sufferings, not because we enjoy pain, but because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. This is the work of God in our lives. He takes what is painful and uses it to shape us, strengthen us, and draw us closer to Him.
Because of our scars, we can say that we have survived. More than that, we can say that we have victory. And through that victory, we carry hope—not only for ourselves, but for others who are still in the midst of their struggles.
Comments
Post a Comment