His Head, His Hands, His Feet
How often, when remembering the Lord Jesus, and musing upon His sufferings, do believers reverently sing –
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
It may enhance our appreciation of this, and deepen our affection, to observe something of the glory of the head, hands, and feet of our Beloved as described by the Bride. His head is as the most fine gold. His hands are as gold rings. He stands upon sockets of fine gold. There are indications of Deity everywhere, and just to remember that the head that was thorn-crowned and the hands and feet that were pierced with nails, were the head, hands, and feet of a blessed Man who was God, must bow our hearts in wonder and worship.
There are several references to the Savior’s head in the New Testament, the first being in Matthew 8:20. The foxes had holes, He said, and the birds of the air had their nesting places. By day and by night the creatures could rest in lairs and nests, but the Son of Man, perfect Servant of Jehovah, seemed to have no place or time to rest. On one occasion, to be alone to pray, He went out a great while before day to a solitary place. But they followed Him, and found Him, saying, “All men seek for Thee” (Mark 1:35-37). Truly He had nowhere to lay His head.
In two consecutive verses in Matthew 27:29-30, there are again references to His head. They plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and then smote Him on the thorn-crowned head with a rod. Note the order! Had it been reversed it would have been suffering enough, but He was crowned with thorns first, and then smitten on the thorn-crowned head. What suffering for that head of gold!
But at last, John tells us, He found a place to rest His head. After six hours hanging upon the cross on that dark day of crucifixion, He cried, “It is finished,” and bowed His head, and dismissed His spirit. The word “bowed” in John 19:30 is the same as the word “lay” in Matthew 8:20. He who, as a tireless Servant had nowhere to lay His head during those busy years, now rests His head upon His breast at Golgotha.
One day, however, the glory of that head of gold will be publicly acclaimed, and in Revelation 14:14 He wears a crown of gold upon His head, and wears many diadems (Revelation 19:12). The head that was wearied in service, wounded in suffering, and rested in death, will at last be crowned with gold. The head of our Beloved will wear the glory.
Similarly there are several references to the Savior’s hands. The creation is the work of His hands. Psalm 102:25 is attributed to Christ in Hebrews 1:10. The heavens and the earth were formed by His powerful hands. His are princely hands too, for into His hands the Father has committed all things (John 13:3), just as Abraham gave all that he had to his only Isaac (Gen 24:36).
Then men pierced those tender hands. Hands that had gently blessed the children, that had touched the leper, and that had broken the loaves for the hungry multitude by the Sea of Galilee, were cruelly nailed to the cross. These were the hands of God manifested in flesh, the hands of Deity incarnate, gold rings set with the beryl.
His holy fingers made the bough
That grew the thorns which crowned His brow.
The nails which pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.
He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
His hands are, for those who love Him, as gold rings. The hands of the Savior enfold us, protect us, keep us, so that He could say, “Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:38). We are safe in His powerful hands. They are “set with the beryl,” adorned with the very treasures of heaven itself.
Then, as we think of His feet, what grace marked His pathway. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace” (Isaiah 52:7). How very literally was this fulfilled, for He walked on Olivet and on Moriah, on Zion and on Hermon. He left His sacred footprints on the mountains of Israel in His ministry. “Fine gold” indeed! How precious! One dear woman bathed those feet with her tears. Another anointed them with fragrant ointment. But men pierced them! The holy feet of our Beloved had traversed many miles in Israel. By the lake-side, by the mountain-side, in the fields and in the meadows, in the streets of village, city, and town, in Galilee, in Judea, and even in despised Samaria, He sojourned in the days of His flesh. But at last they nailed Him to a tree.
Well do we sing, “See from His head, His hands, His feet,” and well must we ever remember that these were the head, hands, and feet of a Divine Person dwelling amongst us for a little while. “His head as the most fine gold His hands as gold rings set upon sockets of fine gold.” The thoughts of His holy mind, the labor of His tender hands, and the pathway of His sacred feet all shine resplendent with the gold of Deity. But the world knew Him not, and rejected Him.
It is often pointed out, that, unlike that image of Gentile powers in Daniel 2, there is no deterioration in the Beloved. That head of gold in the king’s dream soon degenerated into silver, and brass, and iron, and clay. With Christ there is neither deterioration nor decay. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. His head, His hands, and His feet, are all pure gold. Deity never changes. This is our Beloved, and This is our Friend!
