By J.R. Miller
"I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." Galatians 6:17
O Hands that were extended upon the awful tree,
Hold up those precious nail prints--and intercede for me.
O Head so deeply pierced with thorns which sharpest be,
Bend low before Your Father--and intercede for me.
O Body scarred and wounded my sacrifice to be,
Present Your perfect offering--and intercede for me.
Paul speaks of himself as bearing, branded on his body, the marks of Jesus. His allusion probably was to the custom of branding slaves with the initial or some other distinguishing mark of their owner. These brands could not be removed; and wherever the slave went--he carried, burnt indelibly in his flesh, these witnesses of his servitude and his ownership.
The marks in himself to which Paul referred were the scars made upon him by what he had endured and suffered, in serving and following Christ. He had been beaten with the scourge, and the weals were yet upon his body. He had been stoned, and he bore yet the scars of the bruises. He had suffered shipwreck, and had been exposed to cold and heat and storm, enduring hunger, thirst, and weariness. All these experiences had left their traces in his body. He was no longer the blithe, vigorous, fresh young man who had witnessed Stephen's martyrdom. He was prematurely old.
He called these records of his persecutions and toils 'marks of Jesus', because they had been received in the service of Christ. It was because he was a Christian--that he had been scourged, beaten with rods, and stoned. It was in missionary journeyings, that he had suffered shipwreck, hunger, and cold. If he had continued the life of a popular Jewish rabbi, receiving honors, enjoying wealth, dwelling in luxurious conditions, the idol of his nation--there would have been none of these tell tale lines of care, suffering, and persecution. These were the price marks of his Christian consecration and life.
Yet he was not ashamed of his scars. His tone is even triumphant as he speaks of bearing about, branded on his body, these stigmata. He wore them as decorations. The patriot soldier is not ashamed of his wounds received in his county's cause. He does not try to hide them, or to have them obliterated; but is proud of them, and loves to show them, and tell in what battles he received the wounds of which these scars tell. Says an old writer, "It is not gold, precious stones, and statues that adorn a soldier--but a torn shield, a cracked helmet, a blunted sword, and a scarred face." So Paul gloried in his sufferings for Christ, and in being branded slave of Christ. He never thought of the marks of his sufferings, as being in any way marks of dishonor.
Every true Christian bears also in his body, the marks of Jesus. The body is the scroll on which the spirit writes all the life's story. If a man lives in self-indulgence, giving way to appetite, to passion, to lust--the signs of his sensuality and sottishness soon begin to appear on his face. If one yields to anxiety, to discontent, to fretfulness--the countenance will register the inner unrest and feverishness. Bad temper--declares its hideous unloveliness in the features. It is impossible for the envious man to conceal his envy; it writes itself all over his face, withering its freshness and beauty.
In all departments of life--the body is the revealer of the spirit. We all carry about with us the marks of our servitude, the brands of our master. The calloused hand that grasps yours--tells of hard, unpitying toil. The sailor's weather beaten face--tells of rough seafaring. The wasted frame, the trembling limbs, the pale cheeks--tell of disease. The whitening hairs, the wrinkled face, the bowing form--declare that old age is advancing in your friend.
The finer spiritual qualities also show their indices, in the body. As sottishness, sensuality, and selfishness--put forth their symbols; so do nobleness, self-restraint, and all moral qualities--set their seal upon the features. A beautiful soul--makes a beautiful face. Noble thoughts, carve their majesty in strong lines on the brow.
We are not called in these days to suffer persecution in serving Christ, and therefore we cannot point to any such marks of Jesus as Paul bore. We have no weals on our back made by scourgings, because we are Christians. We have no disfigurements telling of stonings because we loved Christ. Not many of us have suffered from exposure, or have lost our health, or worn out our strength, in Christian work.
But if we are Christians at all--there are other memorials of struggle, self-denial, and sacrifice, which God sees in our life. All our best lessons--are learned at real cost. We reach the higher--by trampling under our feet the lower. We attain beauty of spirit--by the crucifying of the flesh. We get our moral strength--out of struggle. No one ever rises into noble character in valleys of ease, walking along mossy paths, merely having "an easy time in life." It is the life of toil, of conflict, of self-denial, of pain--which makes the saints whose character shines in radiant beauty.
It is a strange story that of Jacob's all-night wrestle. In the morning he went from the Jabbok maimed, lame, limping--but a new man, with a new name, a victor over self, over his old nature. From that day, Jacob the supplanter--was Israel, a prince with God. Through all his life, to its close, he limped when he walked; but his limping was the mark of God upon his body, a symbol of spiritual victory.
So it is ofttimes in the story of life. Out of our earthly defeats, come our truest victories. Many a man brings from business reverses, a new spirit, chastened, disciplined, with an eye for heavenly things. Many a woman comes from a sick room, with a blessing of patience, gentleness, sympathy, thoughtfulness, which she had never worn before. Many people come out of sorrow with a broken heart--and yet with a holy beauty, a Divine enrichment, and a spiritual power which they had never possessed before. These are all brands or marks of Jesus. They seem to be woundings. They appear to our eyes to be scars-- disfigurements, telling of hard usage. Yet they stand for spiritual qualities, pearls of character, growing out of the woundings of the flesh--marks of growth, of new grace.
There is something very suggestive in the thought that it is the woundings and disfigurements of life--that are the marks of Jesus. We remember that it was by His wounds, the prints of the nails--that Jesus Himself was known after His resurrection. May it not be, too, that we shall recognize Him in heaven--by the same tokens? Every older Christian, bears some marks of woundings. We are wounded in our conflicts with the enemy of our souls. The holiest saint ofttimes has had the hardest battles. Many people carry wounds in their heart--wounds made by sorrows.
A young man who had been long in the English army became a minister. When preaching in the city of his birth, he sought out his aged mother, whom he had not seen for many years. She did not recognize him; but it had happened that one day, when he was a child, she had accidentally wounded the boy's wrist with a knife. To comfort him she cried, "Never mind, my son, you mother will know you by that--when you are a man." So now, when the old woman could not believe that this grave, fine looking minister was her own son--he drew up his sleeve, and said, "Do you recognize this?" In a moment the old mother had her boy in her arms. She knew him--by the scar.
So Christ recognizes His own people--by their wounds--wounds made sometimes by His own chastening. In the pearl oyster, a tiny grain of sand makes a wound, which causes the little creature much suffering. But by and by--a beautiful pearl comes from the wound. Thus it is in the true Christian life--the wounds of chastening, of sorrow, of trial, of conflict, through the power of Divine grace, become rich pearls in the character, true marks of Jesus. "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11
Young Christians may not be able yet to point to such insignia of their Christian life. The joy of youth is in their heart, the bound of youth is in their step, the hope of youth shines in their face, their strength is unwasted, and they have no scars from conflicts, hardships, or sorrows, to which to point as witnesses of their devotions to Christ. Their life is yet before them; their record is yet to make. But while they have not yet had the trying experiences which brand their imprints on the life, they may have true marks of Jesus in their faith, their obedience, their consecration, the fruits of the Spirit in them, and their earnest, holy living!
There is a legend of Francis of Assisi which says that in a holy rapture he once beheld the form of one crucified. When the vision had vanished, he bore in his hands and feet and side--the imprints of the wounds of the Savior. This is only a legend. But there is a spiritual sense in which, when we gaze long and adoringly upon the Master--the marks of His life are really imprinted upon us; not upon our hands and feet and side, in any merely physical branding of wounds upon our flesh--but in the putting upon our soul, of the features of Christ's own beauty. Instead of literal nail prints on our hands and feet--our hands bear the same love marks that were on the hands of Jesus! They become serving hands, giving hands, holy hands, hands of help and healing; and our feet become like Christ's feet--swift to run on love's errands and in the ways of God's will. To bear the marks of Jesus--is to have the spirit of the cross--deep in our heart, animating all our life. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord--are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18
