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 The staggering faith of Thomas was held up, when nothing save the sight of the nail-prints could reassure him; and it was on similar ground that the beloved John was confronted in Patmos, when he fell at the feet of the glorious One. This same Jesus laid His right hand on him, and said: "Fear not, I am the First and the Last; I am He that liveth, and was dead."
It is thus that He approaches us still, and shows us His hands and His feet, that by these scars we may be made to feel that He is in very deed the Christ that we need. And in doing so He shows us the true way of dispelling doubt, of whatever kind it may be, viz., the fuller knowledge of Himself, as the dead, the buried, the risen, the living Christ. It is this that is the cure of all unbelief, the death of doubting, the cherisher of faith, the perpetual source of stability and peace; for the real cause of all doubting is the imperfect knowledge of the Lord.
Nor let anyone say: "I know all that I can know, both of Himself and of His work." He that says this, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. When doubt arises, and unbelief gets the mastery, and estrangement comes in, let the first thought be: Could this have taken place, had I fully known Him whom I profess to have received; and will not another look at Him, another glimpse of His glorious Person, and deep-scarred wounds, fully reassure me, and rebuke all alarm or distrust?
He shows us once more His hands and His feet, and by them we may know Him, by these "infallible proofs," to be the very Christ we need, both for heart and for conscience. The Christ we need is such a Christ as will not only reveal the immeasurable love of God, but convince our consciences as to the lawfulness of that love, by showing us the life, the death, the resurrection of a Divine Substitute.
He is the Christ of Bethlehem; the Child that was born, the Son that was given. But this is not enough. Mere incarnation falls short of our wants, and fails to pacify the conscience.
He is the Christ of Nazareth; the Man that dwelt among sinners, and showed the love of God to sinners. But this is not enough.
He is the Christ of Capernaum; the great worker of miracles, the healer of the sick, the raiser of the dead, the feeder of the hungry, the utterer of the most gracious words that ever fell on the ear of man. But this will not purge the conscience, or secure our peace with God.
Accordingly, He shows Himself as the Christ of Gethsemane, the Christ of Golgotha, the Christ of Joseph's tomb. And what shall we more say? Who, after the proof that is given of death and resurrection, can persist in doubting, or refuse to be comforted?
Look at Him with prolonged gaze. See Him as He was and is; as the dead, the buried, the risen One. Look at His hands, His feet, His side.
These scars, though healed, are allowed to remain, just on purpose to meet our doubts, and banish our distrust. He who raised Him from the dead, left these scars still visible, these marks of death and weakness, these memorials of the cross and its nails, in order, by means of them, to speak to us, to give us demonstration of His true death and true resurrection, that thereby we might be comforted exceedingly, nay, be like those of whom it is written: "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord."
--By Horatius Bonar |
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