Isaiah 49.15-16
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
This week we move on to some of the passages in Isaiah which were fulfilled in Jesus, even though the gospel writers don’t actually quote them. Jesus showed the disciples his hands and feet, so that they could see the nail prints. Yes, Jesus’ resurrection body, no longer subject to pain and death, nevertheless has the prints of those nails, as perpetual reminders of his sacrifice, his amazing grace, his unequalled love.
One verse in the old hymn ‘A debtor to mercy alone’ goes like this:
My name from the palm of his hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on his heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace.
Indelible grace! – the work of Jesus on the cross will never lose its power. When my time on earth is done and I stand before the throne of judgment, the books will be opened and they will reveal that I was not a very good Christian. But I will be able to point to the nail marks which will remain for all eternity as proof that the price of salvation was paid by Jesus and I will never have to pay it myself. God will never forget!
Leave a Reply