Scars

          An important part of my job is to talk to people who are considering undergoing surgery to implant an experimental device.  There are lots of things to talk about and people usually have a lot of questions, as they should.  “How do I know the device will work?”  “How long is the surgery?”  “Will I have pain after the surgery?”  And, at some point in every conversation, I am asked “What about the scars?”  People want to know if they will wake up with railroad tracks on their arms and hands and neck.  “Will my scars be permanent?”  It is a reasonable concern.  It is a concern of cosmetics:  how will I look?  Yes, there will be scars.  There are some things we can do to get scars to heal better.  Over time they will fade to some degree.  But twenty years from now, if all I could see of you was your arm, I could pretty well guess what surgeries you had done just by seeing the scars that remain.

          Are scars permanent?  What does it mean to call something permanent?  I know what the person asking me means.  They want to know “am I going to have scars for the rest of my life?”  Probably.  Actually they are almost certainly permanent.  As long as you don’t define “permanent” as the same thing as “forever”!

          If you don’t believe there is life after death, then you have to anticipate that gradual decay after death.  Your body will decompose.  And, yes, over time those scars will fade away for sure.  So – are scars permanent?  Certainly not if that is our destiny.

          But if you are a Christian and believe what the Bible says about our eternal destiny, then you believe there will be a resurrection.  The details are surely sketchy, but it seems very clear that our resurrected bodies are perfect.  Clean.  New.  No scars.  So – are scars permanent?  Not if that is our destiny.

          So, no, as far as I can tell, scars will never really be permanent…that is, except for one very famous case.  This case was made clear to us in the famous story of “Doubting Thomas”.  Thomas didn’t believe that Jesus had appeared to the rest of the Disciples.  He wanted proof.  He wanted to see this risen Jesus with his own eyes.  And, within a few days, he got his chance.  Thomas is in a room with the other disciples and it happens again:  Jesus appears in the room.  And what does Jesus say to Thomas?  "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side…”  What is the implication?  The implication is this:  the scars from the crucifixion that Jesus had endured are still on his hands and still on his side.  Still there in Jesus’ new resurrected body.  Permanent scars.  A perfect body with permanent scars.  An ultimate oxymoron for sure.

          If you believe there will be a resurrection of the dead, and an eventual eternity in heaven, you may have never given much consideration to how you will know Jesus when you run in to him.  Well…I suppose there are many ways…but one sure way is to take a look at his palms.  There will be a lot of beautiful hands in heaven.  They will be perfect.  No hardened callouses.  No crooked arthritic joints.  No scars. 

          Except for two hands.

          You know, scars aren’t always just a cosmetic issue.  Sometimes they are painful.  Makes me wonder…are truly permanent scars painful?