Preparing For Good Friday
The Scars of Jesus:
What They Teach Us on Good Friday
In John 20:19-29, the risen Jesus appears to His disciples and invites the doubting Thomas to touch the scars in His hands and side. “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side,” Jesus says. Thomas believed and worshiped. Those scars were not hidden; they were displayed as powerful evidence of the resurrection—and as enduring reminders of what Jesus endured for us.
Scars always tell a story. As a boy, I once asked my father about a long scar on his back. He told me how, as a child, he disobeyed his own father by riding a dangerous horse alone. The horse threw him into a barbed-wire fence, leaving a permanent 5-inch mark. That scar reminded him of rebellion and its painful consequences.
In the same way, the scars on Jesus’ body tell a profound story. On this Good Friday, here are four important truths the scars of Jesus teach us:
1. God’s Wrath Against Sin
Jesus’ scars bear witness to the terrible reality of sin and God’s holy anger toward it. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That “cup” symbolized the full measure of God’s wrath against sin—wrath that the Old Testament often pictured as a cup poured out (Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15-17).
On the cross, Jesus endured scourging, a crown of thorns, beatings, and nails driven through His hands and feet. At the height of His suffering He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Darkness covered the land as He bore the full weight of divine judgment against the sins of the world. The scars remind us that God does not treat sin lightly. As Exodus 34:7 declares, He “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” Sin is an affront to a holy God, and it demanded payment.
2. God’s Plan for a Substitute
From the beginning, God pointed to substitution as the way sinners could be forgiven. In the Garden of Eden, an animal was slain to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness and sin. Abraham’s son Isaac was spared when a ram took his place (Genesis 22). The Passover lamb’s blood protected Israel from judgment (Exodus 12), and the Day of Atonement involved a substitute sacrifice for the people’s sins (Leviticus 16).
Isaiah 53 foretold the ultimate Substitute: “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” John the Baptist recognized Jesus as this Lamb: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Jesus stood in our place. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The scars proclaim: *In my place condemned He stood.*
3. God’s Infinite Nature Requires an Infinite Sacrifice
Because God is infinite—eternal in power (Isaiah 40:28), wisdom, and holiness (Romans 11:33)—only an infinite sacrifice could atone for sin committed against Him. Finite creatures could never pay such a debt. That is why the incarnation was necessary: Jesus, fully God and fully man, in whom “all the fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9), could offer the perfect, infinite sacrifice that satisfied divine justice.
The scars Thomas touched were the marks of that complete, once-for-all atonement. Only the eternal Son of God could bear the full weight of infinite wrath and secure eternal redemption.
4. God’s Love for Sinners
Above all, Jesus’ scars reveal the depth of God’s love. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus Himself said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He laid down His life specifically for His own sheep, out of intimate, particular love.
Even in His risen body, Jesus tenderly invited Thomas to touch the wounds. Those scars are everlasting proof that the Savior loved us enough to suffer in our place so we could be reconciled to God.
This is why we call it Good Friday. Jesus took our punishment, paid our debt, and opened the way for forgiveness and eternal life. His scars still speak today—of wrath satisfied, substitution accepted, justice fulfilled, and love displayed.
May we never look lightly on the scars of Jesus. They tell the greatest story ever told: the story of our redemption.
What They Teach Us on Good Friday
In John 20:19-29, the risen Jesus appears to His disciples and invites the doubting Thomas to touch the scars in His hands and side. “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side,” Jesus says. Thomas believed and worshiped. Those scars were not hidden; they were displayed as powerful evidence of the resurrection—and as enduring reminders of what Jesus endured for us.
Scars always tell a story. As a boy, I once asked my father about a long scar on his back. He told me how, as a child, he disobeyed his own father by riding a dangerous horse alone. The horse threw him into a barbed-wire fence, leaving a permanent 5-inch mark. That scar reminded him of rebellion and its painful consequences.
In the same way, the scars on Jesus’ body tell a profound story. On this Good Friday, here are four important truths the scars of Jesus teach us:
1. God’s Wrath Against Sin
Jesus’ scars bear witness to the terrible reality of sin and God’s holy anger toward it. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That “cup” symbolized the full measure of God’s wrath against sin—wrath that the Old Testament often pictured as a cup poured out (Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15-17).
On the cross, Jesus endured scourging, a crown of thorns, beatings, and nails driven through His hands and feet. At the height of His suffering He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Darkness covered the land as He bore the full weight of divine judgment against the sins of the world. The scars remind us that God does not treat sin lightly. As Exodus 34:7 declares, He “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” Sin is an affront to a holy God, and it demanded payment.
2. God’s Plan for a Substitute
From the beginning, God pointed to substitution as the way sinners could be forgiven. In the Garden of Eden, an animal was slain to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness and sin. Abraham’s son Isaac was spared when a ram took his place (Genesis 22). The Passover lamb’s blood protected Israel from judgment (Exodus 12), and the Day of Atonement involved a substitute sacrifice for the people’s sins (Leviticus 16).
Isaiah 53 foretold the ultimate Substitute: “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” John the Baptist recognized Jesus as this Lamb: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Jesus stood in our place. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The scars proclaim: *In my place condemned He stood.*
3. God’s Infinite Nature Requires an Infinite Sacrifice
Because God is infinite—eternal in power (Isaiah 40:28), wisdom, and holiness (Romans 11:33)—only an infinite sacrifice could atone for sin committed against Him. Finite creatures could never pay such a debt. That is why the incarnation was necessary: Jesus, fully God and fully man, in whom “all the fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9), could offer the perfect, infinite sacrifice that satisfied divine justice.
The scars Thomas touched were the marks of that complete, once-for-all atonement. Only the eternal Son of God could bear the full weight of infinite wrath and secure eternal redemption.
4. God’s Love for Sinners
Above all, Jesus’ scars reveal the depth of God’s love. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus Himself said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He laid down His life specifically for His own sheep, out of intimate, particular love.
Even in His risen body, Jesus tenderly invited Thomas to touch the wounds. Those scars are everlasting proof that the Savior loved us enough to suffer in our place so we could be reconciled to God.
This is why we call it Good Friday. Jesus took our punishment, paid our debt, and opened the way for forgiveness and eternal life. His scars still speak today—of wrath satisfied, substitution accepted, justice fulfilled, and love displayed.
May we never look lightly on the scars of Jesus. They tell the greatest story ever told: the story of our redemption.
Recent
Archive
2025
2024
August