Seedbed’s JD Walt had posted a photo of a journal page entitled “If Scars Could Speak” on April 3,2023. It resonated with me because I’d had a “scar” surprise the night before.
I went to see His Only Son on Sunday, April 2. I realized I needed to go see it again to clarify something script author and producer David Welling put into the movie.
At one point as Abraham knelt in humility and heartbreak before the Angel of the Lord, the theophany of God, the Lord’s hand reached out to him in what appeared to be a gesture of empathic understanding and, honestly, I believe the hand of God was scarred. It was Christ’s hand ….God revealing the truth of Himself as Jesus Christ, just as Jesus had said, “Before Abraham was, I Am..”. David Welling did a beautiful job with this movie on a shoestring budget. He said the idea for the movie came to him while he was stationed in Iraq and it became a 10 year passion to write and produce it. John 8…. Jesus’ most definitive teaching, it seems, on His identity….. and the movie expresses this reality of Christ and Father as one in timeless unity with one another.
Abraham was allowed to know and experience the heartbreak of the Father in offering his only son of the promise as a sacrifice to God and the Son of God Himself was with Abraham in order that Abraham and Isaac might attest to the goodness and faithfulness of God to both covenant with man and to also bear the full weight of the burden for keeping the covenant, since man cannot. Isaac, too, trusted in the goodness and faithfulness of the God of his father and humbly obeyed. The scars on the hand of God spoke just by their presence in this movie!
In old testament scripture The Angel of the Lord, in my understanding is the physical appearing of God which is manifested at times as the person of Jesus Christ. Other times God chose to appear as a pillar of smoke or fire. Time and form have no bearing on the when and the where or the how of Christ’s appearing….as elements of fire or storm, as Jesus’ human appearance, or the fire or wind or flowing water or beauty of the Spirit in all His Triune Glory, exists outside of constraints of time, space, and matter. “Is anything too difficult for God?”
Every bearer of the Holy Spirit has scars . If they are not visible on the outside they can be heard from what is being spoken by the heart and mind of the one who abides in Christ by the power and illumination of His Holy Spirit who shines a light in every crevice of our soul to release us from the bondage of shame, secrets, deceptions, and distortions of the Word.. ( 2 Corinthians 4:2)
As I reread JD Walt’s journal page post the phrase “I got these by listening…” stood out. For some of us growing up “listening to your parents” meant obedience. Certainly Jesus listened to the will and heart of God and was obedient.
There have been several times when, in obedience to God, I came away from the situation with some wounds that became scars. God can’t circumcise a heart or prune away unproductive limbs without some scars being left….
In three of the times when I felt the pain of such wounds that became scars, God asked me if I felt abused. One does not feel abused when gangrene is cut out, or cancerous growths removed, or worn and broken joints are replaced…… There is only gratitude for the joy of healing and the scars are a reminder of God’s work as the Great Physician in restoring function and health.
The words of the scars…
“I Am”…. The voice of the Father
“Follow Me”….. The voice of the Son
“Everything will be okay”……. The voice of the Holy Comforter.
All are present in the Lord’s scars and all are present to attend our wounds and bring the healing so our scars can attest to His glory, our good, and others’ gain.