And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends (Zech. 13:6).
This is the story of redemption told in glory by the Lord Himself. To the questioner He explains how "he came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). Redemption necessitated wounds, suffering, death; and our Savior will carry the scars of those wounds throughout the ages. The pride of human beings does not like wounds. The apostle speaks of the "offence of the cross" in his day (Gal. 5:11), and it is still in the world. The proud unbelief that rejected the wounds of the cross in the apostle's day still rejects them in our day.
One of the most precious art possessions in the world is a rude drawing--a graffito, it is called--found in the guard room of the Palatine, now in a museum in Rome. It is a picture of the reaction of sinful people in the first and second centuries to the wounds of the cross. This rude drawing made on the plaster of the wall represents an ass upon a cross. Underneath it the soldier who drew it has scribbled the name of his fellow soldier whose faith he mocks--"Alexamines," he say, "worship his God." This shows the scorn and contempt for the cross in those days. It reveals the enormous odds of hate and slander against which believers had to make their way.
Jesus is not merely a great teacher among other great teachers in the world. He is the world's Redeemer. "We preach Christ crucified," declares the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:23). The Savior's wounds of old were received where He should have received kindness, acceptance, and love. Let us today see that He is not wounded again in the house of His friends--in our house.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified" (Ps. 40:16).
This is the story of redemption told in glory by the Lord Himself. To the questioner He explains how "he came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). Redemption necessitated wounds, suffering, death; and our Savior will carry the scars of those wounds throughout the ages. The pride of human beings does not like wounds. The apostle speaks of the "offence of the cross" in his day (Gal. 5:11), and it is still in the world. The proud unbelief that rejected the wounds of the cross in the apostle's day still rejects them in our day.
One of the most precious art possessions in the world is a rude drawing--a graffito, it is called--found in the guard room of the Palatine, now in a museum in Rome. It is a picture of the reaction of sinful people in the first and second centuries to the wounds of the cross. This rude drawing made on the plaster of the wall represents an ass upon a cross. Underneath it the soldier who drew it has scribbled the name of his fellow soldier whose faith he mocks--"Alexamines," he say, "worship his God." This shows the scorn and contempt for the cross in those days. It reveals the enormous odds of hate and slander against which believers had to make their way.
Jesus is not merely a great teacher among other great teachers in the world. He is the world's Redeemer. "We preach Christ crucified," declares the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:23). The Savior's wounds of old were received where He should have received kindness, acceptance, and love. Let us today see that He is not wounded again in the house of His friends--in our house.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified" (Ps. 40:16).
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