See your Savior’s hands, outstretched in love for you.
But what all does He save you from?
The hands in rest of the story and your own hands begin to point out the answer for us.
Our Lord’s Word shows us hands of Judas, counting some coins, betraying Jesus all for the love of money, which is a root of all evil.
We are shown the hands of Peter, waving in three denial of His Savior He once adamantly promised he would even die with, all for the love of his own life and honor.
The hands of the crowd have clenched fists, just going along with the crowd in a rage of someone to blame,
And the hands of the chief priests and Pharisees pat themselves on the back for a job well done in saving their own power and reputation,
And the hands of Pilate, wash themselves clean, as if he could really claim to be innocent of this man’s death.
Their hands ought point us all back on ourselves.
There is no temptation that has overtaken you that is not common to man.
Our hands and our heart haven’t stayed clean.
They’ve been clenched too often in anger,
Or tense with sinful worry.
They’ve too often been found in a false innocence pointing at someone or some external circumstance rather than pounding our own chest and saying, “It’s my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.”
See your Saviors hands.
They are strong. And they have to be,
Because the grip of loving yourself and of selfish gain is so very tight.
Your Saviors hands are strong. And they have to be,
Because addiction and worry and your temper grab onto you again and again.
See your Savior’s strong hands that are ripping out of the clutch of death and the devil, a grasp that you would have no chance of escaping on your own strength.
Sin, death, and the devil are grabbing onto your Savior, but He let them.
They bound and stripped Him and beat Him, but it was His choice to allow that.
They stretched out His arms and nailed His hands, but this is the way Your Saviors strong hands rescue you.
Where is your sin? Your Jesus points at Himself and says, “it’s all right here!”
Where is the wrath of God we deserve? Your Jesus points at Himself and says, “I’ll take it for them.”
Where is the condemnation to hell that we justly have merited with our unclean hands and unclean heart? Your Jesus points at you and says, “There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,” because of what His hands and heart have done.
See your Saviors hands.
Today and always, those hands which are marked with nail holes, are open and say “Peace be with you.”
See your Saviors hands,
Because those are the hands that have baptized you into His saving death and resurrection,
And those are the hands that have fed you with His body and blood,
And those are the hands provide for you everything that you need for body and soul,
And those are the hands that you are in today and forever.
And nothing and no one can take you out of those hands.
When you die, those hands will bring you to Himself.
To live is Christ, and to die is gain.
So, we’ll cling to the Old Rugged Cross, and receive His strength again today to loosen our grip on saving our own life, but losing it for the sake of our Savior.
See your Savior’s hands, outstretched in love for you.
As you cling to the Old Rugged cross, one day soon, those hands will crown you.