I received this in an e-mail & forwarded it on, but decided to post it here too
Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
This is one I can honestly say I have never seen circulating in the emails so; I'll start it, if it touches you and you want to forward it.
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this....
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 graveclothes.
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 theentrance.
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 thetomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.
The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked inand 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' headwas folded up and lying to the side.
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 folded napkin hadto 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 theservant 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 thatnapkin 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!'
He is Coming Back!!
3 comments:
I agree! I am going to post it on Easter. I have heard this one before. It brings tears to my eyes, every time I read it! As a matter of fact, my Mom is going to have her Sunday School class over for a Easter Feast and share the story with them and give them each a napkin of their own to remember it by. She had asked me on Thursday to find the story for her on the net, and then you sent it to me Friday. :o) Thanks for sharing.
that was awesome... thanks for sharing.
BTW
my marathon is next sunday in Dublin
That is really cool :)
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