4Surely he has borne our sickness
and carried our suffering;
yet we considered him plagued,
struck by God, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought our peace was on him;
and by his wounds we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray.
Everyone has turned to his own way;
and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed,
yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth.
As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he didn’t open his mouth.
8He was taken away by oppression and judgment.
As for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
9They made his grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
There is a story behind every scar that we have and a combination of being an accident prone child and having had my fair share of surgeries as an adult, I have quite a few stories to tell! Maybe for you, a scar reminds you of an accident, and you’re thankful for the recovery you have experienced. Some scars are emotional and psychological, reminding us of deep hurts inflicted by others.
When appropriate, we should be willing to share the stories of our scars. As we do that, we can show our gratitude, humility, and need for community. A drawback to the popularity of social media today is that people often portray their life through a filter to show only the best bits. It’s easy to share news about our holidays, happy family gatherings and celebrations. But true fellowship emerges when our scars are exposed in personal communication with others.
Today we see Jesus in one of his post resurrection visits to his disciples. And when “he showed them his hands and side,” his followers were overjoyed as they recognized the Lord.
And what a story his wounds tell! As we see in Isaiah 53, Christ’s victory came through deep personal sacrifice. We are also reminded of our sins, our transgressions. When we embrace these two realities—Jesus’ wounds and our need—we find healing. Indeed, “by his wounds we are healed”!