The Hands of Christ

         We forget. We forget that on that first Resurrection Sunday, the disciples were in despair.  We forget they were troubled and hurt. We forget they had no idea what the day would bring. We forget what it must have been like to watch the hands of Christ, so often extended in ministry, nailed to that timber - when they had no idea what was to come in just three days.
 
           We forget that they passed a Sabbath in utter anguish and hopelessness – with their faith in doubt, not yet understanding exactly what Jesus was about to do in their lives.
 
            Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a time in life when your faith is shaken and the way forward seems uncertain? Have you ever looked across the seeming wreck of your life and wondered where God was? I suspect the disciples were right there, that Sabbath Saturday so long ago. 

        If you are there now – if life is painful, the trial is hard, and your faith is wavering – fix your eyes on Christ. His triumph over death is our key to life.
 
       That first Resurrection Sunday – the news must have been stunning -Jesus lives! He lives!  They didn’t grow up knowing the “rest of the story,” as we have. Think of the joy, the exhultation, of realizing all Jesus had been trying to explain.
 
        Yes – Jesus Lives - and His  resurrection secures for us the reality of His presence in our lives. The extended, wounded hands of our risen Lord, picture everything we need to know to believe on Him and to abide with Him.
 
        The hands of God are still extended to a lost world, in infinite love and mercy. These hands reveal the persistent character of God’s love. He would stop at nothing to pursue us, to rescue us. His changeless love still reaches out today. He reaches out to you, to me. 
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​“Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” …And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself….” Luke 24:36b-39a

​         Those hands are extended in love to save us, to rescue us from sin. The wounds in them are “exhibit A,” proving Jesus took the punishment for sin on himself, bearing in his body the price for the world.
 
            That God’s very hands would be driven through is symbolic, for hands are the instruments through which one’s will is carried out. His will was to provide, through His death, the way of salvation for us. After His resurrection, those hands – the same hands that paid sin’s price - were extended as healing, saving, keeping hands yet again.
 
            Remember Thomas, the doubter? Thomas declared, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas knew the hands of Jesus.
 
               When Jesus appeared and said, “Reach your finger here…” Thomas believed, “My Lord and my God.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed Thomas’ life. It changed the life of Peter, of John – of Mary. As Jesus rose, He raised us to the possibility of eternal life with Him.  When we abide with Him, He abides with us. The way may not be easy, but we are not alone and we know the future holds an eternity with Him!
 
            Truly the master work of Jesus was the redemption of mankind. Praise God He was willing. Praise God  for His love and compassion. Praise God, He lives! Lord, I put my life in Your hands forever. I trust you. On this Easter Sunday, I can only echo the joy and the wonder of those first disciples, and with Thomas say, "My Lord and my God." Thank You, Jesus, amen. 


He is Risen!
Cara & Patti

Classic Christianity