In John 20:24-28 after Jesus rose from the dead He visited Thomas. The verses read, “Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!””
Jesus died a public and brutal death for our sin, for a debt He didn’t even owe. It wasn’t His fault and yet He suffered horrifically. Then He came back to life and was seen by countless people. He was resurrected, yet His scars remained. A God who can heal the sick and raise the dead should certainly be able to manage a little plastic surgery. Jesus had already been through unimaginable pain and humiliation. It seems to be insult on top of injury that He had to walk around with the physical reminder of His torment and anguish. As I questioned why He wasn’t restored completely after the resurrection, it hit me. He was. Jesus was restored completely.
To cover Christ’s scars would be to cover His testimony. From the nail holes in His hands to the spear wounded in his side, the cross demanded to be seen. To hide His wounds in shame of the death that caused them would have made Him less than. They were evidence of the destiny God had called Christ to live out and a monument to God’s glory and love and power and faithfulness. They were proof of God’s redemptive plan and Thomas (and most likely many others) needed to be able to touch those scars so he could believe. His ability to reach the God of salvation depended on knowing the trauma of the cross by seeing the scars on the risen Son of God.