Looking to Jesus

At the family service last month we thought of the way the Lord Jesus ministered to a man who was profoundly deaf. From the story recorded in Mark chapter 7:31-37 we saw how He used his own version of sign language to show the man what he was going to do … and then wonderfully did it. We were reminded that if we have ears we need to hear (Mark 7:16)! 
One of the things that always fascinate me when I see it is someone signing for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. Occasionally when there is a news bulletin on the television you see someone signing in the bottom corner of the screen and I can’t take my eyes off it, so much so that I often forget to listen to the news report at the same time. Though I have ears to hear, I don’t hear because I’m too busy focusing on the little person in the corner. I read this week of the sign language used to ‘say’ Jesus. Do you know what it is? To make the sign, apparently, you simply put the tip of your index finger of one hand into the palm of the other, and then the index finger of the second hand in to the palm of the first. With Easter coming up, I’m sure you can work out why. To think of Jesus you must think of the nail prints in his hands. 
On Good Friday we will remember the death of Christ. After the mockery, the scourging, the spitting, the stripping, the striking and the humiliation, those hands that had ministered to, and healed, so many were taken and nailed to a cruel cross. He died, not just because he was taken by cruel hands, but because God’s perfect plan for our salvation could only be executed if He was (Acts 2:23). Without the shedding of his blood our sins could never be forgiven (Heb 9:22). On Good Friday we will remember his death afresh. But on Easter Day we will celebrate the resurrection of the Jesus put to death on Good Friday. He is the Son of God! He is the Resurrection and the Life! He has conquered death and the grave, as well as sin and Satan, and gives eternal life to all who will trust in Him. That truth is so wonderful it cannot be anything but true! The early disciples struggled to believe it and even to recognize the risen Lord when they saw him. But the nail prints were still there. John 20:20 tells us that the fears and doubts of those disciples hiding away at the end of that first Easter Day were gloriously removed when they saw His hands. Then they were glad because they knew they had seen the Lord! 
Whoever had the idea of making the sign for Jesus revolve around the nail prints was very perceptive. As important as the life of Jesus was, with its perfect obedience to the law of God, and its endless outpouring of compassion to those who were in need, it is the death and resurrection of Christ that is key to our understanding of him. He came to give his life as a ransom for our salvation. It is his death and resurrection that gives us hope. It is trusting in the Christ of Easter that will bring us salvation. Have you done that?