Banes S. Lal
He spoke, saying, "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
So what do we know about Jesus' body after his resurrection?
It was the same body that he died in, but it had been restored and brought back to life. He was still human but now glorified. Yet, he could pass through doors and walls eat solid food (Luke 24:42). "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44). The Lord's appearance was new enough that those who knew him best didn't recognize him at first (Luke 24:16) but soon learned it was him (Luke 24:31).
Let's look at the intriguing details of his scars.
The scars were the primary means he demonstrated to his disciples that he was indeed in the same body, now risen and transformed. According to Luke, when Jesus first appeared to them, "they were terrified and frightened and supposed they had seen a spirit" (Luke 24:37). He then displayed the scars to them. "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." (Luke 24:39)
Following that, the Lord Jesus "showed them his hands and his side," which contains the account of Thomas, who was "not with them when Jesus came." (John 20:24). Thomas was adamant that he needed to see Jesus' scars for himself to be sure it was him. When the Lord eventually came to see him, he revealed the scars to Thomas.
"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).
We'd think that a glorified, resurrected body would be free of scars if Luke and John didn't tell us about them. In fact, they appear to be a flaw at first. Wouldn't such a transformation from a perishable body intended for this world to an imperishable body designed for the next mean he wouldn't bear the scars of suffering? We may think that the Father would have chosen to erase the scars from his Son's glorified flesh, yet scars were God's idea in the first place. Luke and John witness so clearly to Jesus' resurrection scars must imply that they are not a flaw but rather a glory.
Let's drop our gaze to His hands and side. For starters, Jesus' scars show that he understands our anguish. He became completely human, "made like [us] in every way," "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:17-18), He could suffer with us and for us, dying in our place. His wounds show that he has experienced human suffering.
Jesus' scars also reveal his love and his Father's, " But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Ultimately, the scars on Jesus' body will always remind us of our victory in him, "the Lamb who was slain" stands at the heart of heaven and sits on the very throne with his Father. His people will forever honour him as the Lamb who was slain, the scarred sheep, in whose blood they have been washed and by whose blood, once shed through his still visible scars, they have conquered the world.
With his scars in view, we'll worship him forever. The scars are not flaws in the eyes of the redeemed; instead, they are a source of unparalleled glory for the redeemed sinners.
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