These Scars Tell the Story of Love

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” John 20:27

Every scar tells a story. The scars of Jesus tell the greatest one of all.

Greta traces the thick scar that runs from her neck to her sternum, the reminder of a life-saving heart surgery. Sometimes she wishes the scar wasn’t there. But it’s a reminder of her story of survival, of strength, and of the skilled hands that gave her a second chance. We all carry scars, whether on our bodies or deep in our hearts. Scars remind us of the pain we’ve endured—moments we’d often rather forget.

Jesus has scars too and His scars will always tell you of His heart for you. Jesus was killed to pay for all the ways we’ve ever fallen short. But He came back to life, and His resurrected body wasn’t human—it was glorified and full of resurrection power. And it was scarred. With all the power of God at His command, why would Jesus choose to keep the marks of His suffering?

Jesus had a friend named Thomas who struggled with doubt about Jesus’s resurrection. To Thomas, Jesus said: “‘Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!'” (John 20:27) His scars remained to tell His story: a story of great love and redemptive victory. The Bible says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

Today, you can “put your finger into His scars,” by coming to Jesus and asking to know Him, asking for forgiveness and a new life. In life’s struggles, Jesus’ scars remain to remind us of His heart for us and the story of healing and the life He paid for, for all who will come.