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Why did Jesus fold the napkin?
I never noticed this before.
Have you?
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, 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!'
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