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The Risen Lord Appears to the Community of Disciples

Luke 24:33-41 (The Message): 33-34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!” 35 Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. 36-41 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.”

They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus quickly returned to the other disciples in Jerusalem with “burning hearts.” Their despair had been reversed and they were eager to convince the others that Jesus was alive. Suddenly, Jesus was there, in the flesh, wth a body that had been touched by the Glory of Resurrection. Everything was new, His wounds were there still, but now they bore witness to God’s Glory instead of man’s cruelty. Indeed, Jesus seemed eager to show His disciples those wounds, to show God’s healing of all wounds, His and ours.

We all carry wounds and scars. We all carry marks from trauma, from the hurts done to us, from broken hearts to broken dreams. Yet if I look a little closer at myself, to my horror, I see that many of the wounds I carry are self-inflicted, and indeed I am even marked from the blowback of the wounds I have inflicted on others. Dear God, I am a mess !

Then I read Isaiah 53:5, here are two versions:

Isaiah 53:5 (The Message)
…the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed.

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
But 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.

I think that is why Jesus was so eager to show off his wounds – Look ! Look what God can do, Look what I AM can do ! He can heal wounds, heal hurts, heal the brokenness – of all kinds ! For in Christ, all our wounds will one day be glorified, even those that are self-inflicted, and even the pains we cause others. That is the power of the Cross, that is the power of God’s love.

So often I can easily give Jesus the hurts others have caused me and look forward to Him “wiping away every tear”. What overwhelms me is that He heals all sorts of wounds, even the ones I have caused and am shamed over. Then He tells me that all of those wounds have a place in His kingdom, in His glory, in His love. Now, show them off He says, all of them, show everyone My Glory. Can you imagine that kind of love ? I am not sure I can even scratch the surface.

Peace. Phil Parsons

Blowback : the unforeseen negative consequences of an action or decision, in criminal investigations, the police often test the suspect for gunshot residue that attaches to the hands and clothes of a shooter. A wound given at close range often splatters blood on the assailant as well, testifying to the act of aggression as clearly as a spoken word.