How many bones are there in your hands? Today I woke up with this question in my mind. I was contemplating the pain if a nail was placed in the center of your hand. A nail that was large enough to leave a hole for someone to put their fingers in.
I looked it up; and found that the number of bones varies from person to person. Typically, there are around twenty-seven if you count the wrist which has eight. Regardless, that is a lot of bones shifting around to avoid a wooden nail. At first I was thinking of the pain of cracked bones, but then I remembered that no bones were broken (John 19). So Thomas and the other disciples weren’t seeing the flash of white jagged bones. Instead they may have seen the bloody pulp of a semi-fresh wound. After all, it had been a few days. But it still had enough of an impact that it caused Thomas to react, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Two thousand years later and those hands still resonate with meaning. They had redemption meaning on the cross as they dripped precious blood, they had ‘have faith’ meaning in that reunion with the disciples, and they have meaning today. My attention is caught by the pain as bones moved out of place to accommodate as the nail was pounded into place. And as I examine the hand on His renewed body, my heart marvels and whispers “For me, Lord, You did it for me?”
How many bones are in your hands? When you look at them, do you hear the echo “…Stop doubting and believe”? (John 20:27). And when you consider His hands…what does your heart whisper?
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