John 20:20 And when he had so said, he showed to them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD. 1. By these tokens Christ made Himself known. He might have taken other steps to bring about a recognition-recalled incidents known to Himself and to them only; or wrought some mighty miracle. 2. It may appear strange that Christ should have risen in this condition. (1) It would seem to impair the completeness of His triumph. When the three Hebrews came forth from the furnace, no trace remained upon them of the fire. And when Christ emerged from fiercer flames, we might expect Him equally unaffected. (2) Allowing that such evidences existed, their concealment would seem most natural. His sufferings and death had been attended with the utmost ignominy and disgrace. (3) It would seem to give an unpleasing character to the future life. He bears in Himself, on the other side of the grave, the signs and the results of His shame and agony here. Viewing Him as the Pattern, we are led to ask: Will it be so with ourselves? If men had been left to themselves to form their own conception of the risen Christ, they would never have thus represented Him. Note — I. THE PERFECT IDENTITY OF THE SAVIOUR'S PERSON. 1. He is the same Jesus as they had parted from a few days before. A change had taken place, but not such as to affect His identity. 2. This identity exists to-day. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday," &c., must be the watchword of our faith. How the person of Christ has been altered by men! What "developments" has He undergone! As we look around us to-day, we see men setting up Christs after their own fancies, utterly unlike the Christ of the Gospels. Let us cling to His abiding identity. II. THE PERMANENT CHARACTER OF HIS REDEEMING WORK. His sufferings still continue, not as to their actual agony, but as to their results. They remain for ever, graven upon the form of the Redeemer. The cross itself stood but for a few hours; the actual sufferings lasted but for a little while. But their influence can never cease. Had He risen with no memorials of His passion upon Him, men might have doubted, and the doubt would have grown stronger with the ages. But as we look upon Jesus, and see His hands and His side, we learn that He still retains His sacrificial character, and that our faith may rest upon Him as surely as though the Cross and resurrection were events of today. III. THE SAVIOUR'S ESTIMATE OF HIS SUFFERINGS. 1. Men looked upon them as shameful, but to Himself they were glorious. Nothing can minister such joy to His heart as these marks received in that fierce conflict, now crowned with victory, into which He threw Himself for man's deliverance. 2. There shall be something like this with ourselves. Life is a battle from which we do not escape without wounds. Yet the things that are most terrible now may yield hereafter our greatest joy. The darkest things here may be the brightest there. IV. THE TRUE METHOD OF PRESENTING CHRIST TO MEN. Show them "His hands and His side." Insist upon His sacrificial character, upon His death as an atonement for sin. 1. There are those who present Christ to men, but do not show them "His hands and His side." They point to the mystery of His incarnation, His moral perfection, &c. But all this, necessary and good as it is, fails to meet man's case as a sinner. Tell them all this, but tell them especially that, being all this, He died for sinners as an atonement for their sins. 2. This method of presenting Christ is the mightiest for overcoming unbelief. You may reason with men on the evidences of Christianity, and they may remain in their unbelief. "Show them His hands and His side;" put Christ before them in His sufferings and self-sacrifice, and minds that had only become stronger in their opposition through argument and embittered by controversy, have yielded. 3. This method is the mightiest for conquering the pride and selfishness of the human heart. Nothing can equal the force of His appeal when He thus presents Himself to man. A legend has come down to us to the effect that Satan once appeared to one of the mediaeval saints in the form of the risen Saviour, but that the saint discovered and repelled him by asking for the print of the wounds. V. THE METHOD OF HIS REVELATION HEREAFTER. Amidst the countless multitudes of heaven's inhabitants, we may recognize the Man of Calvary by these signs. (W. Perkins.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. |
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