Hands Like Jesus
By Patti Marshall, Session Elder
It’s two days after Easter Sunday, and my mind’s eye, head, and heart are dwelling on the hands of Jesus during His life, crucifixion, and resurrection. His hands were always doing things and advancing the Kingdom because He knew the hand of His Father was on Him.
Surely, Jesus’ hands waved, clapped, gave hi-fives, pointed, held, carved, hammered, cupped themselves around his mouth and ears, whistled, blew his nose, cooked, wrote, knocked, and felt sensations of smooth or rough, wet or dry, hot or cold. It’s doubtful that He swiped, tapped, or scrolled a smartphone, texted, played a piano, filled a gas tank, or dealt with worry beads.
Hands can bless or bully. They can show care or contempt. They can cultivate or control. They can give or get. They can help or harm. They can be raised high in praise or be rude. They can be sacrificial or selfish. They can serve or be self-serving. They can clarify (sign language), create, and convert. They can exhort and rebuke. They can pray.
Jesus’ hands blessed. When parents brought their children to Jesus, He placed His hands on them and blessed them. Whenever He ate with friends, He placed His hands in a gesture of thanksgiving, broke bread and shared. Can you see Him making a point with His hands when He appeared as a stranger to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus?
Jesus’ hands cared. On the Sea of Galilee, He reached out His hand to panicky Peter, and caught and calmed him. His hands raised Lazarus, His friend and beloved brother of Mary and Martha, from the grave.
Jesus’ hands cultivated relationships. He called Zacchaeus, a scorned tax collector, out of a tree for a visit. He gave fishermen feelings of self-worth and purpose by loving and forgiving them.
Jesus’ hands helped and healed. He fed five-thousand hungry people with five loaves of bread and two fish. He took the blind man at Bethsaida by the hand, brought him to a quiet place, spat on his eyes, and then put His hands on the blind man’s eyes so that he could see.
Jesus’ hands sacrificed. His praying hands were violently ripped apart and pierced for you and me. “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands (Isaiah 49:16). In a sense, our names were on His hands at the crucifixion.
Jesus’ hands served. He, in humility and love during the Last Supper, knelt down before His disciples and washed their feet.
Jesus’ hands created and converted. In the beginning, God (Jesus, the Holy Spirit) created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). His hands converted persecuting Saul to Paul, who stayed committed to Jesus until his own death.
Jesus’s hands exhorted and rebuked. He was tempted by the devil, but Jesus rebuked him with Scripture (and His hands). His “Quiet! Be Still!” verbal rebuke must have been accompanied with the authority of His hands.
Jesus’s hands prayed. He often went to solitary places, sometimes for hours at a time, to talk and listen to His Father. On the night of His betrayal, His hands clasped together, palm to palm, fingers pointing away from Himself toward God, His Father. He prayed for us, the people of the earth.
Whatever God places in our hands is in our care and control. What He places in our hands, we are to use for His glory.
What are you doing with your hands?
“Yet still, Yahweh, You are our Father. We are like clay and You are our Potter. Each one of us is the creative, artistic work of Your hands.” (Isaiah 64:8 The Passion Translation)
Prayer: O Lord, we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. Bless the work of our hands. Make our hands useful to You. Make our hands like the hands of Jesus. Show us how to be people with a soft touch and a strong grip on truth. In our Savior’s name, Amen.
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