“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!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:15-16. (NIV)
When Isaiah wrote this, the Israelites were facing imminent captivity by the Assyrian Empire. Their hopes were shattered and morale was at an all time low.
Isaiah’s inspiring words assure the reader that God’s love is far more enduring than even a mother’s love.
Isaiah tells us to “see” the engraving in the palms of His hands. He says this after using one of the tenderest of all images, that of a mother nursing her baby. Although rarely, some mothers may forget their child, the Lord will never forget us, and has engraved us in His hands.
Because He loves us with a parental love, God is committed to us, despite our shortcomings and failures. He chooses the imagery of a mother, who nurses the child she bore. We are God’s children, He made us, and no matter what, He loves us and engraved us in the palms of His hands.
To engrave, pierce or cut into one’s hand is a strange way to express love, but it is a prophetic image, which foreshadows Jesus, 700 years before He came into the world.
An engraving correlates to a covenant. People have wedding bands engraved to symbolize the covenant of their marriage. The ten commandments were engraved in stone tablets, as a covenant between God and His people.
God went a step further with the new covenant, which also involves an engraving, but not on wedding bands or stone tablets. Jesus came into our world with a human body, to tangibly reveal His Father’s love for us, far beyond words. With His body, He touched, hugged, consoled and looked into the eyes of the most forsaken people in society. His body which comforted others, with His physical touch, was the same body that became engraved by nails piercing His hands and feet.
The tender words in today’s scripture convey the message that God’s love is parental, unconditional, enduring, and transcends all of our human limitations and frailties. Love is best expressed by sacrifice, and Jesus loved us enough to permanently engrave us in His hands and feet forever.
Scripture ironically says that Jesus endured the cross, for the joy that was set before Him. (Hebrews 12:2)
It actually gave Him joy, knowing the greater good that would come from the cross, for centuries to come.
The deep scars in His hands and feet remained on His body after His glorious resurrection. Thomas was offered the chance to touch those pierced engravings. Jesus could have erased His scars, but He chose to wear them forever. They are a permanent memorial and a reminder of the Father’s love for us.
Isaiah’s words reveal the unwavering love of God, who is in relentless pursuit of reconciling and restoring all people. We are forever engraved in Jesus’ hands and feet, as a memorial of the greatest expression of love and mercy, incomparable to any other love relationship in the world.
There are times in every believer’s life, when God seems far away, especially during some of the most trying circumstances. We may feel forgotten by God, and under siege by problems, tests and trials. Things will happen at times in all of our lives, that cause us to look up and ask, “Lord, are you still there ?”
That’s when Jesus answers us, and says, “Look at my hands and my feet, you are engraved in Me forever.”
Lord, thank you for the memorial scars of your love for us. Remind us whenever we feel forgotten, to see that we are engraved in your hands and feet, because we are the beloved, highly valued children of our heavenly Father. Amen
