The Marks of Jesus....

“From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Gal. 6:17)

When I was five years old my mother accidentally shut the door on my right hand.  The door latched shut and I screamed bloody murder! It created a moon shape scar on my middle finger and it’s still there today. I will have it till the day I die.  It reminds me of that old maroon Chevrolet station wagon and my mom trying to handle four or at one time.

Do you have a scars? From an accident…..or surgery…..or something really stupid you did as a kid?  If we live long enough we will have scars and they all tell a story.  At the end of the letter to the Galatians, Paul said this: “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Gal. 6:17).  What did he mean?

Paul had some painful marks, or scars, on his body. In reading this passage in context, it sounds like Paul was sick and tired of people challenging his authenticity and his authority to preach the gospel.  He tells the Galatians, in effect—“look at my body and what I have endured because of my love for Jesus Christ.  These are my credentials. Shut up!”

The “marks” , translated in  Greek is “stigmata”.  It does not necessarily refer to the same scars Jesus had, though some would argue that they were. In the ancient Greek, stigma could also refer to a brand, as when a master branded a slave. Or it could even be be a tattoo.  But Paul was not talking about a tattoo or some branding he received.  I mean, could you imagine the  disciples walking around with tattoos to show their dedication to Jesus?  Such a display is a cheap attempt to show affection to Jesus, I my opinion.  All the early followers of Jesus bore marks upon their bodies to display the beatings, blows and floggings they endured because they loved Jesus. There were even deeper scars upon their hearts made by  those that had betrayed them or belittled them—but those remained unseen—-except of course but by Jesus. He saw those wounds on their hearts—-and the wounds on our hearts….He understood….He was proud of them—He’s proud of you for the hurts you’ve received by doing the righteous thing as well

The term stigmata, in this context, means the scars resulting from deep injuries…wounds.  Think about it: In Lystra Paul was stoned and assumed to be dead because of all the wounds and blood.  At Philippi he was beaten with “many stripes”. And by “many” he acknowledged that  he had received “stripes beyond count”.   He received five beatings by the Jews. Each of these produced thirty-nine wounds that would leave the body disfigured.  For a moment just meditate upon that!  Wouldn’t the average man have quit and picked up a different vocation?  What propelled this man and all the other early followers of Jesus  to tolerate such suffering and hate?  Something happened to these folks to drive them to such fantastic devotion.

Three other times Paul was whipped with “rods”.  Those rods would have broken his ribs and bones, and remember, the Romans tasked with beating a prisoner were quite proficient in their vocation.  Romans did not invent torture, they perfected it. His body would have been twisted, bent and  grotesque by the time he wrote the letter to Galatia.

Many of today’s pastors, preachers and priests  are far too concerned about appearing cool, or relaxed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, or photogenic, and would be ashamed of just how ugly and scary those scars were. We would find the scars the early Christians endured hideous and would probably hide their faces in amazement.   But to Paul they were the signs that authenticated  his dedication to Jesus Christ.  Look at the typical Christian author and you won’t anything “unpretty” on the cover of his book, but that’s not how it’s supposed to be….

And yet, Paul does not spend chapters and chapters bragging about how much he had suffered—-the suffering was not the point!  Scars and broken bones  were inevitable events in life that follows if you are serving the King of Kings in a fallen and perverted world.  In fact, Paul only spent six verses  to reference the appalling abuse he experienced.  He was not trying to call attention to himself!

Paul was reminding the Galatians that his message wasn't just one that he had made up or heard about and trusted.  NO! He had lived it and he suffered for it.  If you want to see the handwriting of Jesus, look upon Paul's body or the bodies of other tortured saints.

In forty-five years of youth ministry (yikes—-45 years!) I have lost count of the  young people that I thought had great potential, and ended up losing their lives to drug overdose, auto accidents and suicide. My words of comfort and reassurance are woefully inadequate when a teenage life has been snuffed out so early.  I simply don’t know what to say.  On the one hand I know that disease, decay and death were not a part of God’s original plan for mankind; I also know that as omnipotent God He could intervene and stop any and all suffering, pain, accidents and death.  And yet He all too often does not seem to lift a finger to intervene.  At least that’s how it looks to me at times..

Paul, the greatest evangelist of all time and author of half the New Testament wasted away for years in dark prisons, and in starless nights and dismal days in the open sea… very near to death, and hours and hours hiding from mobs or being lowered over walls in baskets to escape Lynch mobs.   My favorite 20th century heroes—— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, CS Lewis and Oswald Chambers—-all died “early”. One was murdered by the Nazis before he was 40, the other died in his fifties, and the last died in his early 40’s of appendicitis.  ALL of these men should have lived longer lives and accomplished even greater things…….or so my reasoning goes.

But the truth that God is ever revealing to me is that He is not in a “business”, attempting to grow a bigger and bigger enterprises with great salesmen and superb marketers.  No, our  God is in the habit of taking ordinary and common mortal men and women and turning them into His sons and daughters.   And part of that process is to bring them to a place where their mortal life is not their individual focus.  He purposes to teach them that their duty is to reach the  goal  of perfectly reflecting His Son, Jesus.  And sometimes that perfect plan requires that their life ends at 30, 40, 50 or 100 years of age; God knows what He is doing. God is not obligated to explain to me why He let’s a 20 year old young man die in a car crash or why He takes away a Christian apologist at the height of his career.  God’s purpose is to make them and  me holy in the unusual ways and circumstances that suit His purposes.

I suppose the question is, “Do I believe that God knows what He is doing, and by watching what He does, do I trust in the end result?”  When a young life is lost I find peace in reminding myself that God loved and loves that young person infinitely than I or any other mortal can imagine. 

It’s natural to mourn the passing of someone we love or  one we wish could have known and loved better.  But God knows what He is doing.  “Have your way Lord and open my eyes to see how you are using tragedy and heartache to further young kingdom."

One of the blessings of scars is that they remind us of past lessons and experiences—some things represent our faithfulness, others remind us of our foolhardiness!  But cuts and scrapes and bruises and scars do have a purpose and a story to tell.

If you read the book of Judges you will note that from the time Joshua led the Israelites out of the wilderness until the time he died, Israel was one nation under God: obedient and blessed. No nation or army could stand against them.  But Joshua and the leaders with him had battle scars! They had fought and saw God’s hand as it led them and shielded them. Then Joshua died and those of his generation lived  on a few more years, and the nation of Israel still flourished.  They still had a memory of the suffering and hard work required to maintain a nation under God.  They could still see the battle scars!

But then the last ones that knew Joshua, or that had been in the wilderness, passed away,  and the new generation knew neither Joshua nor God.  They had no scars.  In one generation the Hebrews turned away from God. It’s only two pages in the Bible, but of course it represents more like 40 or 50 years-a “generation”.

One wonders: How could they be so blind?  God’s protection and deliverance were recorded for their posterity—for their benefit.  The laws of God and His instructions were recorded to warn them about what would happen if they failed to obey and follow God—in fact more  was recorded to warn them of the dangers of disobeying than the words to remind them of how He would bless them if they did obey! Their parents even set up these huge stones, as markers and reminders, and they still had the ark of the covenant to keep them aware of God and His laws.

But they had not seen the miracles with their own eyes….and had not suffered and experienced the consequences of going down the wrong road. They had no scars and had it rather soft.  They had no first hand knowledge of the Holy One and they quickly drifted away when those with a first-hand encounter died.  In short, they did not love God like their parents did;  and lived lives of disobedience because they were shielded, pampered and protected their entire lives.

The big question for me is this: As a parent and pastor to young people, am I passing on my knowledge and intimacy of Him  to the next generation? More importantly, do they see  what I do as an expression of that primary love for Him?  Am I representing and instructing my boys and the children and youth I help to come to know Him firsthand? As Oswald Chambers wrote, “the bedrock, or foundation of Christianity is a personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus.  If that foundation is weak, the house will fall.”

The defining failure of our mainline churches today when it comes to our children is that we have devoted and passed on to our preachers, youth pastors, weekend retreats, Sunday school or Christian camps that which the Christian mothers and fathers should have been doing all along——i.e. raising their own children to follow their example of an abandoned love and devotion to Jesus.  Parents spend their lives and income trying to protect their children from boredom, or a to provide the newest toys, or to keep them away from any chance of being disappointed, or of ever losing or ever feeling like they aren’t God’s gift to world, and then wonder why they drift away from the church when they get out of their homes and learn the truth.

What will happen in forty years if we don’t get our spiritual act together? The answer is the  certain decline and elimination of Christianity in America, Europe and Latin America.   Just as in Israel, the next generation could turn their backs on God and follow the example of godless movie stars, attention-greedy professional  sport figures, or simply turn to narcissistic agnosticism. You only have to look at the other countries of Europe, the mainline Protestant Churches in America, the YMCA and other Christian non-profits that began as countries and ministries devoted to the salvation of souls that are now primarily wellfare states or fund-raising entities and secondarily “Christian” in focus and theme.

What about the next forty-five years??? Our nation and the next generation will become apostate or atheist unless we somehow pass on to our young people a first hand encounter with Him…. and an understanding that you will  get your knees skinned, your body bruised and your feelings hurt…..perhaps also your dreams dashed if your follow the Master.  Our intimacy with Him cannot be passed on genetically - it is not absorbed spiritually.  It must be experienced first hand.

Am I living for Jesus in such an obvious, “reckless abandonment to God”—- and in such an extravagant way that my sons and those that work with me yearn for a similar adventure with Him?  Are they are spiritually envious of the scars I’ve received and what I possess with God so that they are ready to get bruised and beat up for Him?   Or am I perhaps  so focused on keeping them happy, and  safe and “in love with me” that I never show them God’s odyssey and demand behavior that lives up to HIS expectations of what is right?

May God bless this generation with whatever is required to keep their eyes on God and their hearts tethered to Jesus Christ, even if that involves some challenges of the saints of old——because it surely will.

1.  What handwriting is upon my body——or your body?   Or, what have we shielded ourselves from receiving that Paul would have readily endured?  Where have I shirked because of the certainty of insult or pain or humiliation? Where and when have I failed to receive His marks?   What are your credentials of authenticity?

2. What are we shielding our children from and where are we denying them an example, in our own lives of authentic, yielded and submitted lives to Jesus Christ?