As a kid growing up, I embarked on quite a few adventures.  At least they were adventures to me, like the time when I rode a sled down the steep side of a gravel pit one winter.  Several of us thought it would be fun to ride our sled down the steep embankment and see how fast and how far we could go.  Well, there were a few “whoop-de-doos” along the way down where I got airborne, and landed so forcefully it flattened the runners on my sled, and so the sled stayed there and I continued down without it.  I got a pretty good bump on my head which remains to this day.
Another time I rode an old Coke sign down that same hill, and after the very bumpy ride, slid into the corner of a garage several hundred feet away, which today still bears the scar of the Coke sign in the wood, and I thumped the garage pretty soundly and thus ended my relationship with the gravel pit hill.   When we talked about it years later, one of the other kids said they did those instead of me.  But I had the scars to prove it, and they didn’t.  Another time I was on my bicycle racing a moped down a hill, and I was winning, until the front fender start buzzing against the tire and I took my heel and kicked the fender to make it stop.  But my heel caught in the spokes of the front wheel and immediately sent me over the handlebars and onto the road, head and hands first.  It took a while to heal up from that one.  Quite a ride and again, I had the scars to prove it, and every time I see those scars, it puts me in vivid memory of what happened, which brings me to the point of today’s article.
In July 1993 I was diagnosed with five melanomas and liver cancer and given only a month or less to live.  The Lord Jesus healed me with no treatments, yet I have a couple scars where the melanomas once were.  He could have healed me without scars, but they serve to remind me of what He did for me all those years ago, lest I forget. It’s easy to slip back into the “old ways” of doubt and unbelief, and many do so, even after God has done mighty miracles for them.  That is often why some, after being healed, fall back into illness and seemingly cannot get better.  Yes, we certainly have a tendency to forget the things God has done for us in the past, unless there are reminders to refresh our memory.
Scars serve to remind us of things that happened in the past, and most of them are bad, but not all.  People drag around the hurts from their past, never turning loose of them their whole lives, even though they COULD turn them loose if they chose to.  But often they say they CAN’T forget, or forgive, whichever applies, or maybe both.  Yet that flies in the face of God, who not only FORGIVES our sins, but FORGETS them.  And He expects us to do the same for the sins of others.  Moving on….
The Lord Jesus went about healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out devils, and furthermore He commanded His disciples to do the same in Matthew 10:8, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give. Now, what does this have to do with scars?  EVERYTHING!!  You see, Jesus not only did all these miracles, He went to the cross, with YOUR SINS nailed to that cross with Him.  He bore all those horrible stripes on His body, taking YOUR sicknesses and diseases upon Himself for YOUR healing.  And HE bears the scars to prove it!  But notice God will not force you to be saved OR healed, as He lets you choose whether to believe or not.  However, whether you believe or not, the scars are still there on Jesus, and they not only remind the heavenly Father what Jesus did for us, but they are there to remind US what Jesus did for us.  Surely you don’t think Jesus is there in heaven with His Father, and the scars are “healed” and gone?  Nope, the scars remain, more for YOU than anything else.
You see, the scars upon Jesus are undeniable proof He did what the Bible says He did.  The scars show me that even death could not keep Jesus in the grave.  Look at this!  Jesus said in John 10:17-18: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.   Now consider this if you will: Jesus gave power and authority to the disciples; and that even includes the disciples of TODAY, meaning you and me, to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils.  But which of the disciples ever raised HIMSELF from the dead?  Jesus clearly said He had the power to do so, and yes, He has the scars to prove it.  So the next time you start to slip into doubt and unbelief about the ability or willingness of Jesus to deliver on His promises, behold His scars!
The fact that Jesus healed ALL who came to Him speaks volumes.  He never refused to heal ANYONE!  Are YOU an ANYONE?  I can most assuredly say you are.  That means healing and salvation is just as available to YOU as it was to those who believed 2000 years ago.  What was it that prompted the disciples to turn their world upside down with testimonies of Jesus and miracles of healing?  THEY SAW THE SCARS when Jesus stood among them after having risen from the dead!  Even “Doubting Thomas”, who was not there the first time Jesus appeared in a locked room to the disciples, believed after Jesus appeared to them again.  We can read about it in John 20:25-29:
Joh 20:25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Joh 20:26  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
I believe it had to be hurtful to Jesus that Thomas didn’t believe the other disciples who told Him they had seen Jesus alive after He was crucified.  Yet, for the sake of Thomas, Jesus told him to reach forth and touch his wounds and be not faithless, but believing.  Jesus wanted Thomas to be “settled”, yet He said the ones who believe without having seen Him are blessed. I know that’s why I’m so blessed: I believe though I’ve never seen Jesus appear to me. But I’ve read about the scars, and that’s good enough for me.
How about you?  Will you be a “Doubting Thomas”, or are the scars sufficient for you? It doesn’t say Thomas was “blessed”, but if YOU believe, Jesus said you ARE!!  And the scars are proof.