"...Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..." -Isaiah 49:15–16
Not too long after Isaiah was written, there were 500 years of silence, a period that must have tried the patience of even the most faithful, and created a nation of weary but hopeful people, waiting expectantly for something to happen, for the long-awaited Messiah to come.
Before this long spell of silence, God gives His people a promise that He will never forget them, because it would most definitely seem like He had forgotten to them, after so many years.
And so, much time lapsed, but God remained faithful to His promise and even showed up to remind His people of this.
"Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.'" -John 20:26–27
The same God who told His people so many years prior, "I have engraved you on the palms of my hands", now had those same hands pierced, for them. I wonder how Thomas felt during those moments, if he looked at the holes in Christ's hands and saw his name engraved in them, somehow. I wonder if he grasped right then the magnitude of serving a God who was crucified for him, of serving a God of such deep love for His sheep that He allowed His engraved hands to be nailed to a tree. Perhaps that's why Thomas answers, "My Lord and my God!"
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