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The Hands of Jesus
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1.14
I think we could appreciate what all men have in common. No tool of human ingenuity is equal to the marvel that God created when He made the human hand. Today we have made devices that imitate the individual functions of the hand.
We have made things that dig and scoop. Things like spoons and shovels and rakes and backhoes. We have made things that pick up. Like tongs and forks. Plyers and tweezers. We have made devices that squeeze such as vises and juicers and compactors, pistons, compressors. We have made things that form and shape molds. We've made templates and dyes and casts. We've made things that print and draw. Presses and typewriters. Word processors. Computers of all kinds. And printers of all kinds. We have made things that give signals. That give direction. Things that welcome and command attention. Things that communicate trust and strength. Things that show peace and fellowship. But we have no single piece of equipment to do all the things that a hand does. Now some devices compliment and actually accentuate the original creation. But nothing supplants or will ever be as good as the human hand which God created.
Even in our technology, you have to swipe or press a button to any of the devices that we've just mentioned. None of them can function without the use of a human hand. We even have things which we call a manual or a handbook. The word manual means “of the hand.” Man had never fashioned a tool to take the place of the hand. Even more, man has not perfected his use of the hand itself. But we often misuse it. We have misused our strength in the dexterity of the hand that God has placed with us.
But the hands of Jesus…
They were like no other hands. They never took anything that did not belong to them, which is irony because everything belongs to Jesus. His hands never crafted work that was shoddy or second-rate. They never pointed in a direction that was unsafe or impassable. And they never extend promises that were not kept. His hands never offered fellowship that was not genuine. The hands of Jesus never placed a burden without supplying the strength to carry that same burden. His hands never disciplined unless it was needed… never more or less than the circumstance that was needed. His hands were never folded in prayer or raised in worship that was halfhearted. His hands never touched in a manner that was unseemly or hypocritical or that was suspicious or condescending or crude or malicious. His hands never reached out without both the ability and the sincere inclination to give assistance or refuge or comfort. Whatever that situation needed, His hands are there. His hands never communicated vulgarity. They never raised in brutality. They were never folded in sluggard fashion. And they were never busy with folly and never idle with kindness. His hands were never, ever grimy or even spotted with sin in all of His thirty years on this earth.
And His hands were never stained with innocent blood until they ran fresh with His own blood. These polite, pleasant, perfect hands were pierced by sinners. Hands that had never been injured were punctured by cruel men who mocked. Who spat on Him. Who tormented Him. Hands that only been lifted to help and to never harm were hands that were held to a wooden cross by sinful hands. Fastened there by cold steel. But the hands of Jesus just didn't rest on the cross.
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;
John 20.26-27b
I want us to see the hands of Jesus. I want us to see that they have been rendered more perfect with scars than when they were uninjured. I want us to know that His hands still work today. And that He still lives. He arose so that we would know about His hands. He still directs the wind and the waves. He still points the direction that is safe. He never extends promises that He doesn't keep. And He never offers fellowship that is not genuine and constant. He never does, not even today, place a burden without supplying what is needed. His hands still minister at the heavenly altar where He reigns as a priest on behalf of all sinners. He still reaches out with both the ability and the will to give assistance. He is our refuge. He is our comfort. Jesus’ hands receive disciples. He receives sinners and publicans. He receives the downtrodden.
And He provides the way of escape to the lost and to us.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
