Scars

My right knee has an irregular scar formed from two separate cuts caused by a cut when I was too young to remember. My mum told me that in hindsight, it probably should have been stitched up but she was a nurse by training and not inclined to make too much of a fuss. On my left knee, there is a slight indent sustained when I took a small chunk out of it at a holiday camp when I was eight or nine. My abiding memory from this is how surprised I was that it didn’t hurt. My neatest scar is from my appendix was removed but I consider it distinguished by the five-pence-sized mark above it from where it became infected. There are stories behind our scars. Ask most children and they will be happy to tell you about theirs!

Some of our scars are visible to others; some remain hidden. They may remind us of times of pain but they are also indicators of healing. Without our bodies repairing our skin, there would still be open wounds, at risk of infection. Few of us would wish them upon ourselves but they mark experiences gained, lessons learned and healing. 

Following the resurrection of Jeus, not all of Jesus’ followers had seen him. One of them, Thomas, remained sceptical of their accounts of having seen him risen. When Jesus appeared to the disciples again in John 20, he offers Thomas the chance to touch the hands and side which bore the evidence of the injuries caused in his crucifixion. As well as being proof to Thomas, the scars helped tell the story of what had happened to Jesus. They communicated that death was not the end; hope was not lost. The shame and agony of crucifixion was not the end of the story – love and hope were the winners.

Often our scars are seen as imperfections. Jesus’ scars were not removed from his risen body but were marks of the message of salvation and liberation that his life, death and resurrection spoke of. For followers of Jesus, perhaps this means that we follow one who is scarred, one whose body speaks simultaneously of suffering and healing. Our example is one who can intimately relate to all kinds of pain we may experience while also imparting the hope that pain is not the end. 

Our scars, physical or emotional, don’t mean that we are spoiled goods, unable to be used. They mark the unique experiences we have been through and testify to the healing of injury. On top of this, they give us a way that we can link ourselves to a God who too bore the scars of wounds inflicted and we can remember the ultimate hope demonstrated in the resurrection.