The great gift of Easter is hope—hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in His ultimate triumph, and in His goodness and love, which nothing can shake.—Author unknown
One detail in the Easter story has always intrigued me: Why did Jesus keep the scars from His crucifixion? Presumably He could have had any resurrected body He wanted, and yet He chose one identifiable mainly by scars that could be seen and touched. Why?
I believe the story of Easter would be incomplete without those scars on the hands, the feet, and the side of Jesus. When human beings fantasize, we dream of straight pearly teeth, wrinkle-free skin, and attractive ideal shapes. We dream of an unnatural state: the perfect body. But for Jesus, being confined in a skeleton and human skin was the unnatural state. The scars are, to Him, an emblem of life on our planet, a permanent reminder of those days of confinement and suffering.
I take hope in Jesus’ scars. From the perspective of heaven, they represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Despite that event, though, Easter turned into a joyful memory.
Because of Easter, I can hope that the tears we shed, the blows we receive, the emotional pain, the heartache over lost friends and loved ones, all these will become memories instead of hurts, like Jesus’ scars.
Scars never completely go away, but neither do they hurt any longer. We will have re-created bodies, a re-created heaven and earth. We will have a new start, an Easter start.—Phillip Yancey, “The Jesus I Never Knew”
The Resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over, no matter what my circumstances.—Robert Flatt
A man who was completely innocent offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.—Mahatma Gandhi
“Because I live, you shall live also.”
We need these seven words above to help us to endure
The changing world around us that’s dark and insecure;
To help us view the present as a passing episode,
A troubled, brief encounter on life’s short and troubled road.
For the fact that life’s eternal because our Savior died
And arose again at Easter after He was crucified
Makes this uncertain present, in a world of sin and strife,
Nothing but a steppingstone to a new and better life!—Helen Steiner Rice
