“Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “my LORD and my God!”” (John 20:27-28). With resurrection, Jesus was healed from His lethal wounds. His body is now immortal and glorified. Why did Jesus keep His scars?
Why did Jesus keep His scars?
Jesus kept His scars for two main reasons. First, He kept the scars to prove to Thomas and the other disciples that He is the resurrected Messiah, showing mercy and grace for those who doubt. Further, He kept His scars as a testament, a memory of the sacrifice and His glorious role as the Lamb of God. We can follow His example by not resenting our own scars as we endure and overcome hardship.
Seeking the One Lost Sheep
“Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
“But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hands in his side, I will not believe.”
“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
“Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
“Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:24-29).
Thomas has the misfortune of the fame of this one week of doubt. He requested very specific proof of the resurrection of Jesus. He wanted to see the wounds that Jesus received during the crucifixion—nail marks in His hands from the cross and the wound from the spear on His side. Proof that this same Body was the One that died on that cross, and is now alive, resurrected.
We might assume that this resurrected Body wouldn’t show evidence of the crucifixion. He was dead, and now He is alive. Clearly healed from the lethal damage. So why would He still have scars? But this is the proof that Thomas needed. Thankfully, Jesus chose to retain this exact proof.
Thomas saw the scars and believed. Later, Thomas carried the gospel to India—all the way to the southern tip, the modern-day state of Kerala. Thomas is said to have converted 40 Jews and 3,000 Hindus in Kerala, before being martyred by the Hindu priests of Kali. The explorer Marco Polo reported that he heard that Thomas died by accident at the hand of a peacock hunter. Regardless of the nature of his death, Thomas travelled far and accomplished great things for the Lord after seeing His scars.
And these scars didn’t just help Thomas. The other disciples panicked when Jesus first appeared to them, thinking that He was a ghost. Jesus showed them proof that He still had a real, physical body. One that they recognized. With scars in places that only One crucified would receive.
“He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.” (Luke 24:37-30).
Like Thomas and the disciples, when we encounter doubt and weakness, we can know that God is merciful. He can help increase our faith. When the Pharisees muttered that Jesus ate with sinners, He responded with the Parable of the Lost Sheep:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” (Luke 15:3-6).
If you were the only person on Earth needing salvation, Jesus would have died for you just as He died for all of us. If Thomas were the only person in the world, Jesus would have died for him. And so, if Thomas, or the other disciples, needed to see Jesus’ scars in order to believe, it is not unrealistic to believe that Jesus would have retained those wounds just for him. Jesus traveled through Samaria to speak to the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42). He healed the invalid at the pool of Bethesda who had been waiting for someone, anyone, to help for thirty-eight years (John 5:1-9). Likewise, He is willing to meet you, where you are at, to give you the help that you need.
The Lamb of God
“Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and it seven seals.”
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
“…And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:5-10).
It is interesting that in Revelation, right before the end, Jesus appears as a Lamb. The Lamb “looking as if it had been slain.” His appearance contains proof of His sacrifice. Evidence of the crucifixion—this brutal spilling of His divine blood that purchased persons from every tribe and language and people and nation for God.
Perhaps this proof is in His scars or includes some other supernatural way of showing this memory. Regardless of what that looks like—it shows that He isn’t hiding this brutal sacrifice. He has no need to clean up—to appear visually perfect and unblemished. Jesus is Perfect. He has no blemish. The most perfect Being in existence has scars. They are not defects. They are an essential, powerful part of the story.
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).
He doesn’t despise these scars; He chooses to wear them. And they are celebrated in Heaven. We can follow in this example by embracing our own scars. None of us get out of this life unscathed. Scars show what you survived. They show the strength, the wisdom, and the experience that you have gained. Most of all, scars show evidence of God’s faithfulness through the years. Jesus knows our pain. He has the scars to prove it.
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken in him, and afflicted. 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.” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Why did Jesus keep His scars? His scars are beautiful. They are powerful. We are healed from these wounds. And they are a memory, a reminder, and evidence of His love for us and the lengths that He will go for us.
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.” (Isaiah 49:15-16)
Thank you for reading, Why did Jesus keep His scars? Consider reading more with Why did Jesus say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and Jehovah Shammah, The Lord is There.
