…the doors were shut, but Jesus came… and said, ‘Peace be with you’. Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing”… (John 20:26-27, RSVCE)
We’re familiar with the story of Thomas, Jesus’s disciple who was not present with the others when Jesus first showed himself to them after the Resurrection. Thomas is unconvinced. Perhaps he was so utterly disappointed in his expectations of the triumph of Jesus as the promised Messiah that he refused to be duped again. And so he demands proof, the proof of his natural senses.
Of course Jesus here commends those whose faith is stronger; those who have not seen with their natural senses yet believe that Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death. Us, actually.
When I meditate on this episode, what strikes me is not just the message about faith, important as that is. It is this: Jesus still shows the evidence of his suffering. The risen Jesus still bears those wounds despite his triumph. When Thomas touches the wounds of his risen Master, he touches the infinite love and power of God; love and power strong enough to transcend sin, hell, and death itself for all time and in every situation.
Jesus has bound the strong man and plundered his goods. (Mt. 12:29, Mark 3:27, Luke 11:21-22)). He has overcome the curse of original sin and liberated all who were subject to death because of it (Hebrews 2:14-15). He bears these wounds as evidence, certain proof of his perfect sacrifice and the triumph of Love. He wears them even as He ascends to the Father’s right hand, there to be enthroned and worshipped as King and ruler over all Creation until every enemy including death itself has been put under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). This is the essence of our hope as Christians.
We too bear wounds from our pilgrimage here on earth, invisible wounds of the soul. Yet the glorified wounds of Jesus show us this: no matter what this broken, sinful world can throw at us we can, like Jesus, yet triumph because of his victory. No matter what betrayal, what humiliation, what malice we may endure, sin and evil don’t have the last word; God does.
And so if we cling to Jesus as our Source, our Life, our only Hope, and as we learn (often very painfully) how to trust the Father’s goodness and covenant faithfulness more and more fully, our wounds too, like Jesus’s, will change. They will become glorious scars testifying of his sweet victory.
Lessons From Love School 