The human hand is a most interesting and intricate part of our body. The Lord has created it with the ability to do many complicated things that to some of us might seem impossible. For example, the late Queen Elizabeth II of England once received a most unusual gift — four complete outdoor scenes, painted in detail on four grains of rice. That painting must have been done under a microscope! Most of us have seen the way well-trained hands, combined with a good ear for music, can play a violin and bring out beautiful strains that touch our hearts. Some of us marvel too at the skill of a plastic surgeon, or a carpenter, or a good pastry chef, and the things they can do with their hands.
However, like the other members of our bodies, human hands can be used in wrong ways, and we are all aware of the evil in this world, much of it done by human hands, either directly or indirectly. Men and women have not only carried out acts of violence to others, but have also resorted to robbery, vandalism, and other acts involving their hands. In more recent years Internet crime and fraud have become rampant, again, all involving the human hand, and, of course, the brain too.
Responsibility
The word “hand” has also come to be used in a general way to refer to responsibility which is recognized as having been given to someone. We speak of things being “in the hands of government,” and in the Word of God, we often find the expression “the hand of the Lord” used in the same way.
Humanity
It is a wonderful thing to think of our blessed Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, because “the children are partakers of flesh and blood,” “also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). Our Lord Jesus became a man and had all the human attributes of man, “yet without sin.” His hands are referred to quite a few times, and it is heart-warming and instructive for our souls to consider what Scripture says about them.
First of all, His hands were always used in the right way — for the glory of God His Father. When He dispensed blessing in this world, He could easily have done this by one word of His power. Occasionally He did it this way, saying, for example, to the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:88Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. (John 5:8)). But many other times, His words were combined with His blessed hands. When He healed the leper in Luke 5:1313And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. (Luke 5:13), “He put forth His hand, and touched Him, saying, I will: be thou clean.” What a comfort that added touch was! It conveyed not only power, but also compassion. No one else dared touch the leper, but the Lord Jesus, as God, could do so, and He would do so. On another occasion, when He met the funeral procession of the son of the widow of Nain, it is recorded that “He came and touched the bier ... and He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise” (Luke 7:1414And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (Luke 7:14)). That touch meant much, for once again, any other Jew would have been defiled by touching a dead body.
The Touch of the Hand
When mothers came with their young children, their wish was that the Lord Jesus would “touch them” (Luke 18:1515And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. (Luke 18:15)), and in another place (Matt. 19:1313Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. (Matthew 19:13)), it is recorded that there “were brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray.” As one who was recognized as a great teacher among them, His touch meant much to the mothers of those young children. Because of His love, the Lord Jesus was only too glad to touch those children. We do not know how many of those mothers recognized the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, or whether any of those children grew up to know and love the Lord Jesus.
Judgment
On at least one occasion our blessed Lord used His hands in judgment, defending the glory of His Father. When He saw the money-changers and animals in the temple, we know that “when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables” (John 2:1515And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; (John 2:15)). The Lord may have done this twice during His earthly ministry.
But all this, blessed although it was, could never settle the question of sin. Our Lord might heal all diseases, feed the hungry, and even raise the dead, but none of this brought sinful man any closer to God. Our Lord’s hands must be nailed to Calvary’s cross, and this was prophesied in the Old Testament: “They pierced My hands and My feet” (Psa. 22:1616For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalm 22:16)). When it became time for redemption to be accomplished, His hands and feet must be nailed to Calvary’s cross, and the judgment for sin borne in those three hours of darkness. The children’s hymn expresses it well: “Those kind hands, that did such good, they nailed them to a cross of wood.”
Bodily Resurrection
However, as we well know, our Lord did not remain in death, for it was “not possible that He should be holden of it” (Acts 2:2424Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. (Acts 2:24)). He rose on that resurrection morning, and as one of the proofs of who He was, “He showed unto them His hands and His side” (John 20:2020And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. (John 20:20)). Those nail marks in His hands and the spear mark in His side will remain for all eternity, to show us that He suffered for us. In a coming day, when Israel is brought back into blessing on earth, they too will recognize for the first time that the One whom they crucified was indeed their Messiah. They will say in that day, “What are these wounds in Thine hands?” (Zech. 13:66And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. (Zechariah 13:6)). Our Lord’s answer will be, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.”
When He was about to ascend up to heaven, we find His hands once again used in blessing: “He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-5150And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50‑51)).
His Hands in Heaven
Now that our Lord Jesus is in heaven, are His hands idle? Is He simply resting up there, until the Father gives Him the word to come back for His bride? It is true that there is no direct reference to the Lord’s hands in Scripture after He ascended back to heaven, but if we think of the expression “hands” in a general way, His hands are certainly occupied with us during His time before we are called home. He lives there as our great High Priest, ever interceding for us, and a hymn expresses it well:
Our great High Priest is sitting
At God’s right hand above,
For us His hands uplifting,
In sympathy and love.
Little Flock Hymnbook, #79 Appendix
He is also up there as our Advocate, looking after our interests in every way, to restore us if we sin. How precious this is, to think that as our great High Priest and Advocate, he maintains each of us during our sojourn here on earth!
Figuratively speaking, He continues to wash our feet, as we get in John 13, and in so doing He removes all the defilement of our mind and conscience that we get as we walk through this world. Just as His hands were physically involved in washing the disciples’ feet before He went to the cross, so He is actively washing our feet in a spiritual way today.
All Things in His Hands
But why is it said that when Jesus knew that He should depart out of this world unto the Father and that the Father had given all things into His hands, He arose from supper and washed the disciples’ feet? Why did He do this at the prospect of His eternal fellowship with the Father and His dominion over all things that the Father had given into His hands? Because He knew that in that glory and possessing power over all things, He would be the servant of His people forever. How is He to serve them when they are with Him in His heavenly kingdom? By ministering to their happiness and enjoyment. This He says Himself, as we read in Luke 12:3737Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (Luke 12:37). After exhorting His disciples to watch for His coming, He said, “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily, I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”
He Will Rest
Also, we know that He is still “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:33Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)), for surely, as we read in Colossians 1:1717And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17) JND, “He is before all, and all things subsist together by Him.” Not until the eternal state, when sin will be forever removed from this universe, will our Lord Jesus Christ rest, and at that time He will rest, and the Father will rest, in the rich blessing of His own in both heaven and earth. God will rest at that time in our blessing, when everything is according to His mind. But the nail prints in His hands and that mark in His side from which that precious blood flowed that cleanses us from sin — those wounds will remain for all eternity, to remind us of how much He suffered for us.
W. J. Prost