Reading His Palms
Isaiah 49:15b-16a
“Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Scholars have speciously pointed out that Jesus wasn’t nailed to a cross through the palms of His hands, but rather through His wrists, since palms can’t hold up a body’s weight; but the meaning of Christ’s Passion isn’t found in physiological trivialities like these but in the symbolical truths that tower through them. Just as the Spirit comes through the letter and transcends above it, so these eleven little words from God, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,” are a spiritual wind that sweeps us deeper into the heart of Calvary. Look again today, Christian. Behold afresh your Incarnate Lord towering above the world, His omnipotent arms outstretched, and His bloodied hands open wide for all. Do Roman spikes hold Him there? No, divine love does. But look closer. Read His palms. There’s a word in the wounds. Yes, and more than a word—a name. No, more than a name—a life. Your life!
“Put your finger here, and see my hands,” Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:27. And maybe it’s time for us to look again ourselves.