Nail Holes

Nail holes. Usually, you can spot them on walls. They may have been filled, patched, and painted, but they still show through. Sometimes we leave them untouched, a reminder that something used to hang there: a picture, a frame, or another decoration that needed a nail to hold it in place. Sometimes a couple can end up near one another because we tried to hang something and missed the stud beneath, or because what we hung wasn’t level. Sometimes we change what is hanging, and a different kind of nail is needed; then we make a new hole. Yet the ones that remain are all reminders of what used to be there and is now gone. 

Our lives are like that. Seasons change, children grow up, people move away, jobs change, we grow old, loved ones pass away, churches change, and what we thought would always be around suddenly becomes a memory. We wonder where the time has gone. 

But these experiences, individuals, and seasons still leave holes. Some can be painful. When we think of them, they bring forth memories of times of suffering, sorrow, sadness, and even rage. These holes can be difficult to hide or cover. They stay with us. We carry them always. Other holes bring forth fond memories of laughter, smiles, warmth, and the joy of times shared that continue to enrich our lives. These holes are precious. Nothing can now fill them with what used to hang there. They are beautiful reminders of how life is such a gift. 

After Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, he showed them his hands. They bore nail holes. The wounds from his crucifixion were still with him. Even though God had brought him back to life in all the joy and power of Easter morning, the holes of his painful death were not hidden; they were there for all to see. Even Thomas, who doubted the resurrection, was invited to place his fingers in these holes. 

God could have resurrected Jesus and erased the nail holes. That patchwork would have been easy for the Creator of the universe. Yet the nail holes remained. Perhaps it was God’s way of reminding us that even in this new life we have in Christ, we are not immune to pain and suffering in this world. While death has been defeated, we still bear the scars of living in a broken world. Yet our scars, our holes, no longer define us. They are no longer reminders of what we have lost, but a proclamation of what we have gained.