Sharing Simple Things

On my last post we were reminded what Jesus

suffered to purchase our salvation.

He was the sacrifice for our sins.

God the Father even had to turn His back

because He could not look on sin.

Satan looked at Jesus on the cross and felt that he had won! 

Jesus was dead! 

They buried Him in a tomb and sealed it so no one could

steal His body and claim

that He had risen as He had said He would.

His disciples were discouraged. 

The women came on the first day of the week

to anoint His body with spices

as they would any dead person to cover the odor of the rotting body.

I am sure as they came they were sorrowful and disillusioned,

walking with their heads down.

But His body did not need spices…He was not in the tomb.

The angel said that He was ALIVE!

Mary Magdalene ran and told Peter and John. 

They ran quickly to the tomb.

When impetuous Peter came to the grave he ran on inside

and this is what he found.

  

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, 

and went into the sepulchre, 

and seeth the linen clothes lie, 

And the napkin, that was about his head, 

not lying with the linen clothes, 

but wrapped together in a place by itself.

John 20:6-7  

The Bible takes an entire verse

to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded,

and was lying separate from the rest of the clothes.

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 has to do with the Master and servant. 

Any 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 the 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 the 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 servant knew that the folded napkin meant,

“I’m not finished yet.”

The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!”

Is the folded napkin important?  Absolutely!

Is the folded napkin significant?  Yes!

Praise God,

He is alive and He is coming back again

for those who are cleansed by the blood He shed on that cross.

Praise God, Jesus is coming back!

He is Risen

and

He is coming back!