Why did Jesus fold the burial head napkin after His resurrection?
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 outran 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!"
JESUS IS Coming Back!
Hallelujah!
5 comments:
Dear Trudy,
This Blog is awesome.
In all my days I have never thought about the napkin placed on Jesus face. Amazing thought!
It is excellent.. and YES..
JESUS is COMING BACK!
It is GOOD to see your picture just below the topper..
Love,
Pat..
THANK YOU for this beautiful lesson. God bless you for your faithfulness, Dr. Trudy, and continue to use your ministry mightily to His glory UNTIL HE RETURNS! UNTIL HE RETURNS! UNTIL HE RETURNS!
Hallelujah. :-))
Thank you, Pat and Doris for your comments. It is an AMAZING Treasure hidden in God's word, revealed in these last days.
It is as if the Lord is giving us a "boost" for us to hold on and continue in our walk with Him.
Throughout the ages our Father has left traces behind, to assure us that He is still here and has not forgotten His children.
From time to time these "traces" are revealed and become visible.
Thank You Lord!~!
I saw this in a post for the first time today. Upon searching I found several interesting things. One poster, a Jew, said that no such custom about the napkin existed. ??
We aren't told in the scriptures why the napkin was folded. The napkin was folded neatly nearby, not like the graveclothes, thrown aside because they would not be used again. If the body had been stolen, the thiefs would not have taken time to fold the napkin. He AROSE! The disciples saw this but it took a while before they understood.
Mike
Hi Mike,
I'm not too sure about the customs of those days. I may need to do some more research on it.
The other half of your post is very interesting and a good observation. Indeed HE AROSE!
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
In His service.
Dr. Trudy Veerman
Post a Comment