Nails In His Hands

[The following is the manuscript of our Ash Wednesday service held on the 10th of February, 2016.]

Follow along with the words of the Apostle Luke, from the 4th chapter of his Gospel, verses 1, 2, and 13…

1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

--Luke 4:1-2, 13 (NKJV)

At Lent, we reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made for us by symbolically placing ourselves in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days, resisting repeated attacks by Satan.  We begin this season of personal sacrifice and reflection today, Ash Wednesday.  We come together tonight for this purpose, in the blessed name of the One who gave His all for us:  Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.


Listen and follow along as I read to you from the Contemporary English Version of our Bible, the Gospel according to the Apostle Matthew, chapter 27, verses 15 through 26…

15 During Passover the governor always freed a prisoner chosen by the people. 16 At that time a well-known terrorist named Jesus Barabbas was in jail. 17 So when the crowd came together, Pilate asked them, “Which prisoner do you want me to set free? Do you want Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 Pilate knew that the leaders had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous.

19 While Pilate was judging the case, his wife sent him a message. It said, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man. I have had nightmares because of him.”

20 But the chief priests and the leaders convinced the crowds to ask for Barabbas to be set free and for Jesus to be killed. 21 Pilate asked the crowd again, “Which of these two men do you want me to set free?”

“Barabbas!” they replied.

22 Pilate asked them, “What am I to do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?”

They all yelled, “Nail him to a cross!”

23 Pilate answered, “But what crime has he done?”

“Nail him to a cross!” they yelled even louder.

24 Pilate saw that there was nothing he could do and that the people were starting to riot. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of them and said, “I won’t have anything to do with killing this man. You are the ones doing it!”

25 Everyone answered, “We and our own families will take the blame for his death!”

26 Pilate set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross.

--Matthew 27:15-26 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we open our ears and our hearts to Your message this evening.  Speak to us in words we can understand, that we might know Your will for our lives.  In the holy name of our Lord Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.  We generally associate the day with scripture from Jonah or Job or other Biblical records of covering ourselves in ashes as a sign of repentance and a reflection on our own mortality.  Many will leave their churches tonight with the sign of the cross marked in ashes upon their foreheads or the backs of their hands.  And they’ll go home and wash them off.

But during Lent we seek to grow closer to our Lord Jesus by trying to experience at least a little of what He went through while He walked this earth.  Ash Wednesday kicks off our observance of the journey Jesus made starting with His 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness and ending at the cross.

On that cross, man dealt a cruel judgment against our very Savior.  He took the punishment that should have been ours.  He chose to accept the nails, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death.  Jesus took the nails for us.  He allowed Pilate’s soldiers to nail Him to that cross, there to suffer a horrible death.  Those nails left marks that will last forever.

But those nail-scarred hands proved useful, at least once.  You probably remember this passage, from the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 24 through 29…

24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

--John 20:24-29 (NKJV)

I pray that we never lose sight of just how blessed we are.  We have not seen those nail-scarred hands nor His spear-pierced side, yet we still believe in Jesus as Lord.


But tonight isn’t about belief so much.  It’s more about remembrance.  It is imperative that we never forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  And I think it equally important, if not more so, that we not make Him repeat any of that sacrifice.  He took the nails for us once, there on that cross.  Should we be responsible for driving more nails into His hands?

Each time we fail to follow His commands to us, we pound another nail right into His hand.  When we stretch the truth, cheat even a little on our taxes, take for our use something we should not take – BAM! – we pound another nail!  When we curse someone under our breath for some perceived slight – BAM!  When we avoid eye contact with the beggar, the needy, the homeless, the hungry - BAM!  When we hold onto bitterness rather than freely giving love – BAM!  When we don’t at least try to control our lusts for the things of this life – BAM!  When we fail to unconditionally, sacrificially love one another – BAM!  When we put anything else ahead of God in our lives – BAM!


I’ve driven a lot of nails into my Savior’s hands over the years.  And sadly, I’ll probably pound in a few more before my life here on earth is over.  But if I try really hard, if I stop and think of what I am about to do, maybe I can pull back on that hammer before it strikes.  I just need to remember.

The ashes may remind me for a moment of my own mortality.  But the nails remind me of my Lord’s mortality before He returned to heaven, of His pain and suffering on my behalf.  I may not be able to see the scars those Roman nails left behind, not until I stand face to face with Jesus.  But I know I’ll cry when I see all the ones that I left there in His hands.

Jesus took the nails for me and for you.  Remember this, and drive no more into His hands.  Amen.


Let us join now in a prayer of confession…  Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred, and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep.  We have offended against Thy holy laws.  We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us.  Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.  Spare them, O Lord, which confess their faults.  Restore them that are penitent, according to Thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.  And grant, most merciful Father, for His sake, that I may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life – to the glory of Thy holy name.  Amen.


The season of Lent is a time of penitence, discipline, and renewal.  In the Ash Wednesday service we are reminded of our mortality, we confess our sins, and we experience forgiveness through Christ’s death and resurrection.  In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance.  But the way modern services treat ashes today leaves no lasting symbol, for we go home and wash them off with no one else ever seeing them.  We soon forget they were even applied.

So tonight I invite you to come forward, come to the foot of the cross and receive not ashes, but a nail.  Carry it with you throughout this season of Lent.  Take it out every now and then and look at it, maybe show it to others.  And remember that Jesus took the nails that we deserve.  He took our punishment for our sins upon Himself.

Let this little nail be a constant reminder of how easy it is for us to be like our Savior’s original tormentors and drive more nails into His hands by our thoughtless actions and words.  Remember the sacrifice He made.  Remember the punishment He bore.  And don’t add to it.  Never forget – Jesus took the nails for you.  Let this one remind you not to drive any more into His hands.

Let us pray…  Father God, You created us from the dust of this earth, and someday to dust we will return.  But while we breathe, may we live holy lives, always remembering the sacrifice Your Son Jesus made on our behalf.  May we observe this season of Lent by examining ourselves, by repenting of our sin, by prayer and fasting, by works of love and service, and by reading and meditating upon Your word.  And may we not drive any more nails into our Savior’s hands.  This we pray in the blessed name of Jesus our Christ, who gave His all for us.  Amen.


Neither sin nor death is the final word.  We can leave this service with confident assurance and with great thanks.  Jesus took our sins upon Himself.  Our Lord Christ conquered death.  And now nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Go in peace, and in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.