Episode Details

John 20:20

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

I love Holy Week and Easter. It provides us a remarkable time to reflect on the unimaginable gift we have been given, the gift we didn’t earn and could never repay, the gift of Christ dying for our sins. It is a time to reflect upon the power and the glory and the majesty of our God, and it is a time to recognize his triumph over death in Christ Jesus.

With all of that going through our minds, we sometimes miss part of the story. Caught up in the miracle of resurrection — and with good reason — we fail to recognize an aspect of Christ’s humanity. No, in this case, I don’t mean his suffering and death — again, an important part of the story and one to focus on.

But what I’m referring to is contained in today’s verse, when the newly resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples. He has been raised from the dead to new life. But the way he reveals himself is to show his hands and side. He shows them...his wounds.

This healer, who restored sight to the blind, healed the leper, gave mobility to the one who couldn’t walk, and even raised the dead, is still wounded. In fact, just after this passage is the famous interaction with Thomas, in which he says he won’t believe it really is Jesus unless Thomas touches the wounds himself. And let me be clear: I think that Jesus has the power to heal himself, but he chooses not to, similarly to how he chooses not to end his suffering on the cross.

To me, the message here, my friends, is that Jesus heals, Jesus saves, and Jesus sends us not just in spite of these wounds, but in fact, he recognizes and empathizes with us because he understands what it is to be wounded. We worship a wounded healer. And we are all wounded. Our scars give us understanding. The pain of our wounds allows us to share in the pain of others. Jesus didn’t come to earth to be a god among men, but to be one of us. He came to know what it is to be truly human. May we take that lesson with us, acknowledging that just as our Lord was wounded, so are we, and so are all whom we meet. May our sharing of that knowledge allow us to meet others with even greater love.

Let us pray.

God, we thank you for the gift of Jesus, fully human and fully divine, who teaches us to share the burdens of others. Through the knowledge of our humanity, our scars, may we be able to help others through this life just as you help us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.