Sacred as Jesus' hands, as people have told us (4)
I believe the answer is:
holy
'sacred' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'as jesus' hands as people have told us' is the wordplay.
'as jesus' hands' becomes 'holey' (Jesus' hands were nailed through).
'as people have told us' shows a homophone (sound like).
'holey' sounds like 'HOLY'.
(Other definitions for holy that I've seen before include "Devout" , "Sanctified" , "perfect, morally and spiritually" , "Dedicated to God" , "Sacred" .)