“What Are These Wounds?”

The Old Testament prophet Zechariah forsaw a simple man who would come among the people of Israel. When they saw him, they would ask, “What are these wounds in thine hands?” His answer: “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6).

In an 1831 revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord expands upon this prophecy and links it to His Second Coming:

Then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?

Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.

And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:51-53

There’s something poignant about the wounds coming from His friends, not from his enemies. Some of our most painful wounds come from the people we love the most—the breach of trust can sting as sharply as the injury itself.

As I’ve pondered this passage today, I’ve asked myself: What wounds have I inadvertently inflicted? What words have I spoken, what actions have I taken or neglected which caused harm that I didn’t perceive? Will I one day ask, “Where did you get that scar?” only to discover that I was the cause of it?

Fortunately, as Elder James A. Rasband has taught, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can heal every wound. He spoke of the torment experience by Alma, not only because he realized that he had done wrong, but because he recognized the damage he had done to other people. (See Alma 36:12-14.) Elder Rasband explained:

Alma…agonized about those whom he had led away from the truth. … He could not himself ensure that they would be given a fair opportunity to learn the doctrine of Christ and to be blessed by living its joyful principles. He could not bring back those who may have died still blinded by his false teaching.

As President Boyd K. Packer once taught: “The thought that rescued Alma … is this: Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ.” The joyous truth on which Alma’s mind “caught hold” was not just that he himself could be made clean but also that those whom he had harmed could be healed and made whole.

“Ensuring a Righteous Judgement,” General Conference, April 2020

Today, as I remember the Savior’s wounds, I will be grateful that He can heal the wounds I have caused. Just as He was wounded in the house of his friends, He can alleviate the pain we sometimes cause to the people we love the most.