Hurting God

Hurting God

Women Who Saw Jesus’ Wounds

Read: Luke 24:35-40

Heather watched the door and fidgeted with the hospital sheets. Her mind still struggled to piece the last few weeks together. She remembered stepping off the subway after the late shift. After that, she depended on others to fill in the details of the robbery attempt, the stranger who stepped in to stop the vicious attack, the head injury that had kept her in a coma for twelve days. Heather answered the gentle knock and gasped. A man limped in with one arm in a sling, a patch over his right eye, and deep cuts still healing across his cheekbone. Tears filled Heather’s eyes. He got those injuries while saving my life.

Tears must have also filled the eyes of the women who saw Jesus after his resurrection. Although he had a glorified body capable of appearing and disappearing, the marks of his crucifixion remained visible. The loving hands that had reached out to comfort and heal people now bore the imprints of cruel Roman nails. The feet that had walked miles to teach and minister to hurting people displayed deep gashes. The image of Jesus’ hands and feet burned into the women’s minds for the rest of their lives and gradually took on deeper meaning as they understood that he had suffered to save them.

A mental image of the wounds in the resurrected Jesus’ hands and feet serves as a powerful reminder of the ordeal he suffered for us. What we can’t see are the wounds that we inflict on God by loving other things more than him. He grieves anytime we turn away from him to seek comfort or fulfillment in another source. Since God wants what is best for us, it hurts him when we refuse to let him meet our needs. If we could see how our rebelliousness affects God, our eyes would be full of tears as well.

How I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me.

Ezekiel 6:9 (NASB)