Scars

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didyus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the prints of the nails, and put my finger into the prints of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seem me, thou has believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:24-29).

Down through the years, I have become more aware of the fact that there are many hurting people in our world. As we gather in our churches, many people hide their scars behind their smiles and handshakes. This is a shame when you consider that this is the place for people to show their scars to the Lord and receive help and healing.

Jesus suffered greatly for our sins, sicknesses and various troubles that we face. He bore the scars from that suffering, but was not ashamed to show Thomas his scars. What about us? If we want help and healing, we must show the Lord our scars, our hurts and concerns.

Jesus’ scars represented His substitution for all of us and the atonement for our sins. 1 John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We can all admit that sin has left many scars in our lives.

Maybe our scars are caused by things we chose to do. Maybe our scars are a result of things done by others. Our scars run deep and may cause us to be ashamed to come to Jesus because we don’t want Him to see them. We need to remember that Jesus was not afraid to show His scars. Why was He willing to show His scars?

His scars are a window to His heart- the heart of God. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). It is incredibly amazing to realize that He chose His scars as can be determined from the following verses:

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:17-18).

Jesus chose to suffer for us. He has never been ashamed that He paid that price. We have no reason to be ashamed to come to Him- scars and all.

---

Dave Snyder is an Ordained Bishop with the Church of God – Cleveland, Tennessee. Before entering the ministry on a full-time basis, he was a school teacher. He also coached middle school basketball for eight years.

Dave and his wife, Sara, have two children  — Craig and Karen. They also have one ten year old granddaughter  — Breanna. 

Dave and Sara pastored in West Virginia for thirty-six years. Sara is now retired from the banking industry, and Dave is retired from pastoring. However, Dave currently serves as prison Chaplain for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 

Writing essays, articles, and devotionals is a real passion for Dave. He also enjoys playing musical instruments and singing.