In heaven, Jesus will always have the appearance of one who
had been slain. That appearance will include the sight of scars eternally
announcing the glory of his redemptive work, but also declaring the worth of
those for whom he was slain. In heaven, we will likely have a similar experience
to doubting Thomas when Jesus appeared to him after his resurrection and said, “’Put your
finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side.
Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas
answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”[4] There is at least some sense in which the
twenty-four elders are expressing this in the book of Revelation.
As soon as I began considering this comforting thread woven
into the vision (seeing our worth in Jesus’ wounds), another Scripture popped
into my head as one of those delightful connections of Scripture interpreting
Scripture. In Isaiah 49, God spoke hope into Israel’s experience of his loving
discipline: “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my
hands; your walls are continually before me.”[5]
This
is God’s own gloriously beautiful description of his love and our worth. If
anything could engrave us onto the palms of God’s hands, it would be the nails
of crucifixion piercing the human hands of the eternal Son of God. No wonder
the hymn-writers would express:
Crown Him the Lord of love,
behold His hands and side
Rich wounds yet visible above
in beauty glorified.[6]
Those
rich wounds, still visible above in the vision of the Lamb looking as though it
had been slain, are glorified in a beauty that is as personal as it is real,
for these are the very engravings of God’s promise. God’s children are engraved
on his hands. Ugly, rough, Roman nails were used by God so that Jesus was “delivered up according to the
definite plan and foreknowledge of God,” and yet
was “crucified and killed by the hands of
lawless men,”[7]both
coming together to engrave us in God’s hands, just as he promised.
The
message to my heart this morning was to look at the twenty-four elders around
the throne of God as a divinely inspired picture of how God sees his people
gathered around him, constantly in his care. Along with that, I am to look at
the rich wounds of Jesus Christ, beautifully glorified in the heavens, telling me
that the scroll in the right hand of the Father is written with complete and
perfect consideration of the needs of his own people.
In
the same way that we would look at the signature on a document to determine if
what the document contains is genuine, so we look to the one who stands before
the throne, who shows that we are engraved in the scars of his hands, and know
that, as Paul said, “For
all the promises of God find their Yes in him.” [8] And, as Paul continues, “That
is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory”, just
like the twenty-four elders.[9]
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~
in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright ©
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
[1] Revelation 5:6
[2] The twenty-four elders
are introduced in Revelation 4, along with the four living creatures.
[3] “5 …To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made
us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1)
[4] John 20:27-28
[5] Isaiah 49:16
[6] “Crown Him With Many Crowns” ~ Public Domain; Words and
Music by Godfrey Thring and Matthew Bridges
[7] Acts 2:23
[8] II Corinthians 1:20
[9] “13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on
earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To
him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and
might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the
elders fell down and worshiped.”
(Revelation 5)
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