Scars Redeemed

Not long after the end of the First World War, a poem was published by Edward Shillito titled “Jesus of the Scars.” The world at the time was very aware of scars, either from the soldiers who returned home bearing the visible marks of war or the natural landscape that had been ravaged by trenches and tanks.

When hearing this passage, the poet — like so many others who survived the Great War — couldn’t help but focus on one verse, “He showed them his hands and his side.” (John 20:20) The poem goes:

“If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;

Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;

We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,

We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;

In all the universe we have no place.

Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?

Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.

If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,

Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;

We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,

Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;

They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;

But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,

And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.”

Amazing, isn’t it? The marks of Jesus’ greatest moment of humiliation and pain are there for eternity. Some may consider those scars as blemishes to His resurrected body, but it’s those blemishes that Jesus invites Thomas to touch for himself, so that he might find hope in Jesus as his Lord and God.

It’s an important lesson for us, too. To be human means to have scars, to be nicked up a bit as we go through life. Jesus is no different in that respect, but unlike our blemishes, only His are the signs of salvation.

Our scars are a part of our story — and if we take this passage seriously — our scars just might join us in the age to come. We cannot hide from them (whether they are physical, mental or emotional).

In fact, to be redeemed and restored by God seems to indicate that we are not washed away, even the parts we’d love to hide. Our story doesn’t start over, rather, it continues in the new Heaven and the new Earth. There is continuity, which gives meaning to the scars we accrue along the way in this life. They shape us into who we become and even the most painful parts of us can be redeemed.