This message was adapted from the CPH Lenten Series The Hand of the Lord for delivery to the people of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Adell, WI.

The Hand of the Lord Who Was Pierced for Us

Text: Matthew 26:20-27:60

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be

acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

          Throughout this Lenten season I’ve been reminded over and over again how clear it is that the Lord’s hands have been at work in my life. When we focus on the fact that God is in control and that His hands can do anything, it gives great freedom to allow Him to have that control instead of trying to seize it for ourselves. The work of the Lord’s hand has been evident this Lent as we’ve welcomed visitors into our midst, witnessed the birth of new life, and even as we’ve seen the process of watching loved ones being summoned into the arms, and hands, of their Lord, as Bob was this morning. Even as we experience that pull of death for those we love, our broken hearts are in His hands, as He is the master physician who is able to bring us back to life. His hand is strong to save and to pull us from the depths of despair. He has bound the strong man, the devil, by the finger of God. He reached out to heal people with leprosy, and He continues to bring eternal healing to all of us. His hand of compassion stops death in its tracks and gives life. All things are in His hands, and we can trust this day that He, in fact, does have the whole world in His hands, including our very lives. Last night, having all things in His hands, He served His disciples and fed them, and He continues to serve and feed us with His Holy Supper. And it’s all been leading up to this moment. For on this Good Friday, He was delivered into the hands of sinful men, indeed, even our hands.

And we’ll see in our readings in just a moment what the sinful hands of man have done to our Lord. His betrayer led a band of soldiers to arrest Him and take Him to the High Priest. One of the officers of the high priest struck Him with his hand when Jesus testified to the truth. He was handed over to Caiaphas. All the while, Peter was warming his hands by the fire and denying his Lord. Then Jesus was handed over to Pilate, who wanted to keep his hands clean in the whole matter. Soldiers used their hands to twist a crown made of thorns, press it into His brow, clothe Him in purple, and strike Him with lashes. But the cries of “Crucify Him” echoed all the louder as Pilate attempted to wash his hands of the matter.

Just like that, the Lord of glory—the One through whom are all the wondrous works of God, the One in whom all things were given—was crucified. Nails driven into the hands of the Lord. This is the work of the world’s hands. This is what the world has to offer the Lord. This is what we have offered to Him. The world rejected Him, refusing to see the work of His hands as the hands of the King. So those hands were pierced with nails driven into a cross.

We put so much stock into the work of our hands. And above that, with our sense of entitlement, no matter how great or how little we do, we think that we deserve to be elevated and exalted. Our power grabs, desires to place ourselves first in all things, and desires to even put ourselves above God Himself are to say that by the work of our hands, we deserve to be the ones in charge. We think that we deserve to be king. But there cannot be more than one king. Our desire to elevate ourselves means that anyone else who claims to be king must die. And that’s just what we’ve done to the King of kings and Lord of lords. The sinful work of our hands hoisted Him up on a cross and drove nails into His hands.

So, what can Christ do with hands nailed to the cross? It may appear that such hands are unable to do anything. To those who witnessed these events, it all looked like only the hands of sinful men were orchestrating everything. What can hands do when pinned to the cross?

Isaiah foretold it all. Isaiah writes of a Suffering Servant who “shall act wisely; He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” But He will also be “marred, beyond human semblance.” His exaltation will not be what people expect, and people will be astonished with the great question “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Throughout Isaiah, the arm of the Lord carries much of the same meaning as the hand of the Lord in the rest of the Old Testament. The arm of the Lord displays His might, glory, care, judgment, and salvation. Upon looking at this Suffering Servant, how could this be the arm of the Lord?

He had “no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Isaiah is not just speaking for himself or his own time or Jesus’ time. Even we today are all a part of this. This is our sin. This is what we have to offer the Lord’s Servant. Our sin drove those nails into the hands of the Lord. Likewise, to those who saw these things take place, it appeared as if this was only the work of the hands of sinful men.

But Isaiah helps us to see that Christ’s suffering and death was not only the work of our hands. He continues that this One whom we “esteemed . . . stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” has accomplished something that we could not do. For “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” This “chastisement” was done to bring us “peace” and healing by “His wounds.” This world’s sin, our sin, “has [been] laid on Him.” It was the Lord who did it! “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.”

This was the arm of the Lord all along! It’s true that this sinful world did these things to Christ. However, it was the will of the Lord that this is how salvation would happen. “He . . . makes intercession for the transgressors.” Christ has atoned for all our sin. In fact, He’s atoned for the sin of the entire world. Every misdeed. Every hateful action. Every sinful thought. He has taken the punishment we actually deserve for the work of our hands. He willingly took our place in order to bring forgiveness and life and salvation to us sinners. Willingly remaining silent, like a sacrificial lamb, He took all our transgressions upon Himself. He took all of it to the cross and received in His body the full punishment that we deserve. The wrath of God and condemnation that this world has earned and deserved by its hands was poured out upon Him. It was all nailed to the cross.

So, I ask again, what can those hands do while nailed to the cross? Those are not just any hands. Those are Jesus’ hands. When it’s Jesus’ hands on the cross, they’re the hands of the Lord. They’re life-giving hands. Hands of the Lord who is strong to save. Even if it looks like weakness. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross shows the powerful hand of the Lord at work.

For “the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” The will of the Lord prospers in the hand of Christ, who was nailed to the cross. Because, in Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins! And with His hands and feet and pierced side, in this very act itself, He is able to do more than the most powerful human being. He is able to do what no one else can! And He has done it. For He cried out, “It is finished!” All His work to atone for our sins was concluded on that cross nearly two thousand years ago. What can Jesus do with His hands nailed to the cross? In that one single act He atoned for the sin of the whole world.

Isaiah says that the Suffering Servant shall “see His offspring”—all those who are now a part of the family of God by faith in Christ. That’s you, brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why it was the will of the Lord for Christ to suffer and die. It was in order for the Lord to gather His people under His merciful hand to forgive their sins. Jesus went through all of this suffering in order to see you with Him forever. And He continues to extend His hand to you today through the preaching of His Word, through the forgiveness of your sins, through the pouring of water and Word in Holy Baptism, and through feeding you with His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

What can Christ do with hands nailed to the cross? He does what only He can do. This is the will of the Lord prospering in His hand. This is the power of God’s holy arm for salvation. It may not be what we would expect, but it’s exactly what we need. The One with the pierced hands is drawing you close to Himself to be with Him forever. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.