“And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” John 20:7
You always hear the saying, “The devil is in the details”, but I disagree – God is in the details!
The God of the universe is the Master-planner, but very much in tune with every intricate detail of our lives. A good friend of mine, Judie Arceneaux, recently sent me an email, that I just had to ‘hijack’ to share with you!
I recently had dinner at a restaurant called Bond 45 with a gentleman-friend, which was shortly after receiving Judie’s email, and every time I saw the wait staff stop by the table to fold the napkin of a diner who was coming back to finish his/her dinner, I had to say, “Thank you Jesus!!” Why, you may ask? Because God is INDEED into the details!
Here’s the email:
Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this….
Was 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 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 stopped 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.
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 finished…”
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!”
Hi Aleysha,
What a great post. I was aware of the folded burial cloth and even the fact that the bible took time out to mention it. But, never connected it with Hebrew tradition. Thanks for sharing that! It’s so wonderful that the Master of the Universe is always communicating with us – even down to the very last detail.
Hi Lynnette,
Thank you for your comment. And I agree with you, God is constantly communicating with us – and sometimes we miss it.
God bless you,
Aleysha
I learned something new. Didn’t know about that as a tradition. Going to repost it. Thanks.
Thanks Marty!! 🙂
Thank you sooooo much! I really felt less constricted when I got ready to sing. THIS ACTUALLY WORKS!