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Have you noticed your hands lately? Not just their appearance; with age spots and more wrinkles, but their function? Our hands guided by our minds are one of the keys to our everyday navigation of life. Our hands are unique to each of us, with our fingerprints always one of a kind. Our hands allow us to accomplish many tasks with ease, that we would otherwise find almost impossible; from driving to drawing to cooking to knitting to holding hands with our loved ones. Our hands often represent us and our intentions; from offering a firm handshake, to giving a congratulatory pat on the back. Wise advertisers have made good use of the phrases, “Reach out and touch someone,” and “You're in good hands with....”
The Bible often refers to God in a way which seems to give Him human characteristics, such as arms, feet, eyes and hands. In John 10, Jesus relates first the parable of the Good Shepherd and later in the chapter continues the analogy. In verses 27-29, Jesus tells the assembled crowd, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand”. Also in Isaiah 40, a chapter centered on God's greatness, we have a rhetorical question beginning in verse 12. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span...?” Truly we can say, along with the old spiritual “He's got the whole world, in His hands.”
Our Savior's hands made wooden furniture and tools in a carpenter's shop and those same hands were used to touch and heal the lame and blind and sick. Jesus' hands took the bread, blessed it, and 5000 were fed. Jesus' hands bled and God’s perfect Passover sacrifice was deemed acceptable. The sins of the entire world were paid for.
A contemporary Messianic Jewish songwriter, Sally Klein O'Connor, has written a song about Jesus' hands entitled: “Through the Holes in His Hands.” The lyrics state:
Through the holes in His hands
I see every tear wiped away
Every hungry heart fed
I see healing coming through
The holes in His hands.
God gave the prophet Isaiah a marvelous word picture by talking about the ultimate restoration of Israel. Isaiah 49:14-16 says “But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
Let those you touch and hold, know the Savior's love and grace can be theirs through faith in Him.
Lee Wyman
Member
Grace Gathering
Grand Junction, CO
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