A Vision of Jesus’ Arms

In the summer of 2023 I was having a low moment in dealing with grief. I was driving down the road and in my mind cried out to the Lord: You are God! I didn’t make me! You made me. Why am I dealing with this? Do you even know what it’s like? And immediately the Lord sent me this vivid mental image as a vision:

Visually, it was the hairy forearms arms of a middle eastern man on a green background and I immediately knew they were the arms of Jesus. I could tell they were arms that had both been burned in the sun and done physical labor.

The vision, or mental image, was within my own mind. For example, when you have your eyes open you can still mentally picture an elephant or what the color red looks like.

In the same way, I saw this vision of Jesus’ arms, but it was more vibrant and real than a mental picture than I could create on my own. It’s difficult to convey, but I could feel the humanity of Jesus within the vision. The vision and the feeling associated with it helped me understand and reminded me that Jesus was a man too. He too suffered on the earth.

As I write this, I’m reminded of the following verse:

[Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:22-24

There’s also a parallel to Thomas’ story:

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

John 20:24-25

Jesus then meets Thomas exactly where he is in his belief:

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 20:27

A prayer for you:

Thank you Jesus for the reassurance you have give me through this vision. I pray that others would push past their doubt, anger and fear and cry out to you, and that you would meet them in their pain and in their hurt. In Jesus’ name, amen

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