A SHORT CORRESPONDENCE
Comments(1) [First, I forwarded this, which came to me as an email]
Why did Jesus fold the napkin? Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth 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 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 and mouth with that napkin and toss it on to 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 knew that the folded napkin meant, ‘I’m not finished yet.’
The folded napkin meant, ‘I’m coming back!’
[My friend Chuck, 'God's Cowboy,' wrote about it:]
I keep telling people on the web that there’s MORE to the bible than they think (HIDDEN MESSAGES) like the one this E-mail exposes). Unfortunately, MOST of the people in this world think they know everything there is to know about the bible. They refuse to BELIEVE GOD would HIDE MESSAGES. Unfortunately, GOD wants us to PROVE our faith and be examples to others (lead by your example). HE knows man has to be ENCOURAGED and REWARDED or man is NOT LIKELY to do things he doesn’t want to. So HIDING MESSAGES is just one way HE uses to ENCOURAGE and REWARD us.
Remember, HE said SEEK and you shall FIND. HE was telling us the harder you work at UNDERSTANDING GOD and HIS MESSAGES the CLOSER we’ll get to HIM and the BETTER we’ll understand HIM and HIS MESSAGES.
If only man was smart enough to know what’s good for him. When you think about how far out of our way we’ll go to meet a movie star or a professional sports figure you’ve GOT to wonder why we haven’t got time to get close to GOD. How much more important is HE and how much more can or could HE do for us if ONLY we cared about pleasing HIM half as much as we want to please movie stars and/or sports figures.
Have a GREAT DAY,
Chuck
[I replied] Yes, I think God has hidden things for us to find out throughout His creation. As humans, we tend to look at everything in the way of simpletons. All my life I’ve heard the saying “God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.” That means more to me now than it ever did; for many years it didn’t mean anything! I think that when God does something, he makes sure that the part he plays in it is obscure, invisible or unperceived. He is so great that He can do things seemingly magically or effortlessly and without showing Himself, for He is Holy and above our scrutiny.
