07/16/2020 —  
After He rose from the grave, Jesus appeared to many people, including the disciples. He was in His glorified body, possibly like the glorified bodies that are promised to believers when they enter Heaven.

Jesus's body included scars from the wounds He suffered during His crucifixion. Why you think that was the case?
 
What His scars can teach us should influence the way we live.
 
 
Romans 5:1-11

"Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us. Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory!

"But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!

^"For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves.

"Now, who of us would dare to die for the sake of a wicked person? We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person. But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!

"And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, 'You are now righteous in my sight.' And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God. So if while we were still enemies, God fully reconciled us to himself through the death of his Son, then something greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, and because we share in his resurrection life, how much more we will be rescued from sin’s dominion!

"And even more than that, we overflow with triumphant joy in our new relationship of living in harmony with God—all because of Jesus Christ!”(TPT).
 
Luke 23:36-48

"While they were still discussing all of this, Jesus suddenly manifested right in front of their eyes! Startled and terrified, the disciples were convinced they were seeing a ghost. Standing there among them he said, 'Be at peace. I am the living God. Don’t be afraid. Why would you be so frightened? Don’t let doubt or fear enter your hearts, for I AM! Come and gaze upon my pierced hands and feet. See for yourselves, it is I, standing here alive. Touch me and know that my wounds are real. See that I have a body of flesh and bone.' He showed them his pierced hands and feet and let them touch his wounds.

"The disciples were ecstatic yet dumbfounded, unable to fully comprehend it.

Knowing that they were still wondering if he was real, Jesus said, 'Here, let me show you. Give me something to eat.'

"They handed him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And they watched him eat it.

"Then he said to them, 'Don’t you remember the words that I spoke to you when I was still with you? I told you that everything written about me would be fulfilled, including all the prophecies from the law of Moses through the Psalms and the writings of the prophets—that they would all find their fulfillment.'

"He supernaturally unlocked their understanding to receive the revelation of the Scriptures, then said to them, 'Everything that has happened fulfills what was prophesied of me. Christ, the Messiah, was destined to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Now you must go into all the nations and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins so that they will turn to me. Start right here in Jerusalem. For you are my witnesses and have seen for yourselves all that has transpired'” (TPT).
 

• The afternoon of the first Resurrection Sunday, Jesus first walked with two men to Emmaus, seven miles outside Jerusalem. He told them everything that was in the Scriptures about Himself, but they did not recognize Him until He broke bread in their presence.
• He then vanished from the men's sight. Later, He suddenly appeared at a gathering of the disciples. He showed them it was Him through the scars that were part of his glorified body.
• He could have eliminated those scars - why didn't He? Three possible explanations:


1. So he could confirm to the world and His closest friends that it really was Him. He wanted there  to be no mistake. He wanted them to know that it was His back that bore the lash, His brow that wore the crown of thorns and His shoulders that purple robe was wrapped about. How sad it would have been if He had no way to prove it!


2. He wanted to keep them to wield as His greatest weapon when He stood at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. His scars were evidence of His sacrifice on our behalf, to be shown if it were ever to come into question whether His sacrifice were enough to secure our forgiveness before the Father.


3. He had something to prove on Judgment Day. When we see those scars we will finally understand that we have no right to judge anyone else according to the flesh.