Why did Jesus fold the napkin?
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 were 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!
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