This past Saturday, Las Vegas memorialized the 5 year anniversary of the tragic event which took place at the Route 91 Harvest music festival next to the Mandalay Hotel on October 1, 2017. It has become known as deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in United States history.

58 innocent people lost their lives that night, 413 others were wounded and the ensuing panic which followed as the shots rang out injured approximately 867 people. Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, was forever changed that night because of the actions of one evil man

Five years down the road there are those who are still recovering from their physical wounds and countless others who are also trying to recover from their emotional wounds because of what they witnessed that night. Our son, who is a Metro Police Officer, like every other police officer that horrible night, was at that horrific scene and all he could say was; “Dad, the aftermath of that shooting was horrible to see.”

This past week, our nation saw the devastation and tragic loss of life and property a category 4 hurricane called Ian brought to Florida and the east coast. Lives were forever changed, loved ones were loss and people’s personal history was forever wiped off the earth.

Then on May 24^th of this year, an evil 18 year old young man, walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and fatally shot 19 students/kids and two teachers, right after he shot his grandmother in the face at home earlier in the day, severely wounding her.

Tragedies like these and so many others are forever taking place and they leave behind deeply wounded people, wondering if they will ever get past their deep wounds. I’ve heard people say, ‘time will heal’ and yes that is somewhat true but the memory of loved ones who are now gone, never goes away.

Over 2,000 years ago, a 33 year old very innocent man, was severely beaten to the point that He was unrecognizable, spit upon and had a crown of thorns placed on His head. He was made to carry His own cross and eventually nailed to that cross to die. This 33 year old man did nothing wrong to warrant this kind of cruelty, yet He willingly went to the cross to die for your sins and mine; He was Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

The wounds I have spoken about, as well as many other wounds that have taken place in the lives of people, forever change lives, and mostly not for the better.

The pain of the physical wounds Jesus Christ endured as He went to His cross was more than we could ever imagine, but the agony of having to bear the punishment for our sins, for One who knew no sin, we will never know.

The wounds of tragedies run deep and seriously affect our lives but the wounds, the suffering and death our Lord and Savior had to endure not only run deep but they heal lives/souls forever.

Does a picture of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross affect you? Do His wounds mean anything to you? Jesus’ wounds speak of love not evil, of healing and restoration not condemnation. Let His wounds heal your heart and soul.