Scars in the Resurrection

Text: John 20:19-31

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Holy Scripture had foretold it centuries before in the writings of the prophet Zechariah: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him.” And it came to pass—when Jesus was crucified, upon His death, His side was pierced with a spear and out flowed blood and water, and when the crowds gathered there realized the spectacle they had watched and participated in, they beat their breasts and went home mourning. But it would not be the last time they would look on the Pierced One. St. John was given to see the end in the Revelation granted to him: “Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.” Jesus is prophesied as the One pierced and even at the end of all things He is still identified as the One with those distinguishing wounds.

            It is a curious thing for us fallen children of man to hear that Jesus’ wounds from His crucifixion remain even after His resurrection and that He wants to be identified by them. We do everything in our power to heal our wounds quickly and even minimize our scars. We don’t like being identified by those things that have injured and marred us. We know that we would want to be done with such gruesome and painful injuries, like nails through the hands and a deep spear gash in the side, as soon as possible; to have them heal thoroughly so that we can move on. Indeed, we know that in our own resurrection, promised by Jesus’ rising from the dead, that our tears will be dried and our wounds will be healed. We would expect Jesus to want the same thing.

            And yet, this is not what Jesus desires. He keeps those wounds, even after His resurrection. He wants to be identified as the One who was pierced by nails and thorns and spear. Even when He returns at the end of the age, He wants every eye to see Him this way. He bears these marks as proof to Thomas that He is indeed the same Teacher and Lord that Thomas knew for those years he followed Him throughout Galilee and the surrounding regions.

            Thomas needed that reassurance. When the other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord appear in their company in that room, even though the doors were locked, he wasn’t so sure. People see strange things when they’re grieving. So he told them, “Unless I see in his hand the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Thomas wants to see the wounds as a token, as verification that what his fellow disciples saw really was a resurrected Jesus—not an apparition, or an imposter, not a demon pretending to be the ghost of His crucified Lord. He will only know it’s Jesus by those marks of His suffering and death.

            So when they gathered again, this time with Thomas included in their number, Jesus appeared once more. “Peace be with you,” He announced. Then to show that He was not only a resurrected man, but also God, and that He truly knew everything, even the doubts and misgivings in Thomas’ heart, Jesus said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Then Thomas knew that it really was Jesus and no one else. He exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”

            But notice that the account continues. Jesus tells us that He’s keeping His wounds—unhealed and unscarred over—for more than Thomas’ eyes and his fallen since of visual verification. “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” While Jesus’ wounds, worn proudly in His resurrection, do confirm for Thomas that it really is Jesus risen from the dead, there’s a greater reason that Jesus keeps these wounds. St. John tells us, “These things are written so that you”—you, the hearer now, the one who hasn’t seen the wounds with your eyes, but only heard about them from the written Word—“so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

            We who have not seen the wounds or put our finger into those marks, who have not been able to feel the edges of those injuries where the blood of God was shed for the sins of the world—we have still believed. And why? Not because we’ve seen them, but because we’ve heard of these wounds. We’ve heard how and why Jesus received them. We’ve heard how they confirm that He is risen indeed. We’ve heard how He still bears them in His resurrection. We believe because of Jesus’ word. These things are written that you may believe. We walk by faith and not by sight. We believe because of the Word.

            And what has that Word told us? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. That Word has told us that we also have life because of Him, because of those wounds. And that is why Jesus keeps His wounds, even in His glory now. He keeps them not so that we can trust but verify. He keeps them not so that faith has something more certain to cling to than His Word of promise, as if there were anything stronger than His Word. He keeps His wounds so that we would know that He is joyful for what He accomplished on the cross. He’s not putting it all in the past behind Him. He’s glad He went through it all for you. He keeps those wounds so that you would forever be reminded of what His passion, cross, and death won for you: forgiveness, life, and salvation. He wears them to remind you that He’s not putting off that human nature that He shares with you. He wants to be united with you in flesh and blood, in the very fabric of what is that makes you who you are, a human He loves enough to die to save. He keeps those wounds so that every time you’re at the rail and receive His body given and blood shed, that you would, with all the Church, proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. His wounds, those dear tokens of His passion, still His dazzling body bears so that we, His ransomed worshipers would be filled with endless exultation and rapture, knowing that have been redeemed. He keeps those marks so that we would know the lengths He was willing to go to in order to save us. It’s why the angel at the empty tomb calls Him Jesus, the Crucified One, even on that first Easter morning.

            And that helps us in our doubts. When you have struggles and difficulties, when you have afflictions and persecutions like the Apostles in our reading from Acts today, you can know that you are not abandoned. He does not hate you. He has not rejected you. Jesus still has the wounds that mark your salvation—so it’s impossible that He could forget you. You are engraved on His hands. The nail marks and the spear wound are given as a sign of your refuge, a place to flee, where you can hear His Word again, where you can know His heart, where you can receive His grace and peace.

            That’s the point, really: peace. The wounds, the Word written so you may believe, the breath of the Spirit breathed upon you and all His disciples that creates faith—it’s all for your peace. It’s to give you peace that passes understanding, peace that remains no matter what the world throws at you, peace that comes from knowing that the sacrifice Jesus gave still stands forever. Peace be with you. In the name of Jesus, the Risen One. Amen.