A Folded Napkin

(The following was published in the bulletin at St Charles Bible Church – April 1, 2018   St Charles MN)

Details, details…    

            When the women were told “He is not here, He is risen,” they were overwhelmed with questions.  They came to the tomb, sure that they would find His body, but that was not to be. 

            The angel’s invitation was for them to investigate the tomb and see for themselves that Jesus was gone!  Later, when the disciples Peter and John arrived there, John records the fact that the linen cloths that had been wrapped around Christ’s body were lying there like an empty cocoon, while the napkin that had been about His face was folded in a place by itself.  This sight caused John to believe in the resurrection (see John 20:2-7). There are two reasons why the appearance and arrangement of the grave clothes are of such importance.

     First, there was no sign of human intervention.  If someone had taken the body, they could not have removed it through the grave clothes, and it is likely that they wouldn’t have removed them anyway.  They would have taken the body with it still wrapped in the cloths that bound it.  Neither would they have taken the time to fold the napkin, but it too would have been taken with the body, or at least it would have been discarded in a haphazard manner. In short, the empty tomb was a scene of perfect order.  This suggested a resurrection had taken place.

     Second, there was the ancient oriental custom of the napkin: When a man with servants was eating a meal, he would often use his napkin to signal them during the meal.  If he left the table and wadded his napkin up, it meant that he was finished and would not be back.  If, however, he neatly folded the napkin, it told his servants that he was stepping away for a moment, but he would be back!   Jesus was telling His disciples, “I may be out of your sight right now, but I’ll be right back!”  When Peter and John arrived at the tomb, they feared the worst.  Perhaps they thought robbers had come, or that the Jews had taken His body away.  Even Mary missed the napkin and supposed the gardener had moved the body of the Lord (John 20:1).  Yet, John, who had been raised with servants (Mark 1:20), probably knew this custom and quickly grasped the meaning (v. 8).

    Everything about the story of redemption has ‘napkins’.  Details that seem incidental, when examined closely, only add to the certainty expressed by the two angels: “He is not here; He has risen just like He said!” (Matthew 28:6a)                   

IF you confess with your mouth that Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”   (Romans 10:9,10)

            Christians, Jews, and atheists agree that Jesus was crucified and buried. The crucial belief for Christianity is that He was also resurrected — as evidence that He is the Son of God, the Teacher of truth, the door and the way of salvation, the first fruits of the resurrection.

            Most historians agree with the truth that early disciples believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Although at Jesus’ death they were dejected and fearful, they were soon dramatically different: they risked their lives repeatedly to preach about Jesus.  Even Christians in the second and third centuries (as well as many today) put their lives on the line to preach about Jesus.

            Of course, erroneous ideas abound, and people sometimes give their lives for erroneous ideas — but only if they think they are true.  People do not put their lives on the line for things they don’t believe.  The disciples never wavered in their belief in Jesus’ resurrection.  None of them ever changed their story under the pain of persecution.  Even agnostic historians can admit that the disciples believed that Jesus had been resurrected. 

    The disciples were not deceived, nor were they deceivers.  They just tell us what they believed, and it is clear, that they believed that Jesus died and was buried and was resurrected.  And it is clear, that the reason they believed this is because they saw it with their own eyes.

   “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”  (1 John 1:1-3)

Pastor Jim B

 ’47 / ’56 St Charles MN