Jesus' Folded Napkin
An unusual approach to
a biblical story
Why did
Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I
never noticed this....
The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was
placed over the face
of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave
clothes.
The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly
folded, and was placed at
the head of that stony coffin.
Early Sunday morning, while
it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to
the tomb and found that the
stone had been rolled away from the
entrance. She ran and found
Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one whom Jesus loved.
She said, 'They have taken
the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I
don't know where they
have put him!' Peter and the other disciple
ran to the tomb to
see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got
there first. He
stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying
there, but he didn't go
in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went
inside. He also
noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that
had covered Jesus' head was
folded up and lying to the side
Is that
important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the
significance of the folded napkin, you
have to
understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The
folded napkin had to
do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew
this tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he
made sure
that it was exactly the way
the master wanted it. The table was
furnished perfectly, and
then the servant would wait, just out of
sight, until the master had
finished eating, and the servant would not
dare touch that table,
until the master was finished. Now if the master was
done eating,
he would rise from the table, wipe his
fingers, his mouth, and
clean his beard, and would wad up that
napkin and toss it onto the
table. The servant would then know to clear the
table. For
in those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm
done'.
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his
napkin, and
laid it beside his plate,
the servant would not dare touch the table,
because..........
The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!'
He is Coming Back!