“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities.” — Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)
I’ve got a few scars.
Some are easy to see. Some are hidden under all this black Lab fur. And if you’ve ever watched me chase a cat, you might think most of my scars came from poor decision-making.
You’d probably be right.
My human has scars too.
Some are easy to see.
Others aren’t.
This morning, my human was sitting on the porch with his Bible and coffee. That’s usually my signal to settle down beside him. I’ve learned that when the Bible opens, something important is probably about to happen.
He was reading about Jesus’ scars.
Now, I know a little something about scars.
A scar tells a story.
Sometimes it tells about something that happened to you. Sometimes it reminds you of something you survived. And sometimes, if you’re like me, it reminds you that you should probably have listened when somebody yelled, “Don’t go over there!”
But Jesus’ scars tell a different kind of story.
His scars tell the story of love.
After the resurrection, Jesus didn’t hide His wounds. Thomas wanted proof, and Jesus showed him His hands and His side.
“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side.”
- John 20:27 ESV
The resurrected Jesus still had scars.
That got me thinking.
We live in a world where we like to hide our scars. We cover the ones people can see, and we work even harder to hide the ones they can’t.
There are scars on our bodies.
But there are also scars on our hearts.
Grief leaves scars.
Betrayal leaves scars.
Failure leaves scars.
Sin leaves scars.
Words spoken years ago can leave a mark long after the person who said them has forgotten them.
And sometimes we get pretty good at pretending everything is fine.
But Jesus never asked us to pretend.
His scars remind us that wounds don’t have to be the end of the story.
The cross tells us that our sin is serious.
The empty tomb tells us that sin, death, pain and brokenness don’t get the final word.
And those scars on Jesus remind us that He understands suffering—not just from a distance, but personally.
Maybe you, like my human, are carrying a scar nobody else can see .
Maybe you’ve been trying to hide it, even from God.
You don’t have to.
Jesus knows what wounded you.
He knows what still hurts.
And He knows how to redeem what you thought could never be made whole.
I watched my human take another sip of coffee and turn another page.
I figured he was learning something.
So was I.
A scar doesn’t mean God has abandoned you.
Sometimes a scar is evidence that you’ve been wounded and God brought you through it.
And sometimes, the scar itself becomes part of the testimony.
Jesus still bears His scars.
And because He does, I’m learning that mine don’t have to be something I hide.
They can become reminders of grace and reminders of how far Jesus has brought us.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
