folded-napkinThere are many things that could be said about the Lord, all of them positive, but one which perhaps goes unnoticed is that He was a Man of good manners.

That sounds like a silly thing to think about, perhaps, but it came into play on the morning of His resurrection…

 

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

John 20:1-8

Did you catch it? It was just kind of casually mentioned before the text turned to focus on the faith of the disciple who peered into the grave.

What was it?

Consider this: When you’re sitting at the dinner table–assuming you were taught table manners–where is you napkin supposed to rest? On your lap, of course. When the meal is over the napkin is wadded up and tossed onto the plate. This was a sign to the one clearing the dishes (be it a servant of the house…or the womenfolk!) that the meal was over.

If however, the one at the table wanted to leave momentarily and later return to the meal, he would fold his napkin. This signified “I’m not here right now, but I’ll be right back.”

Look again:

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

John 20:6-7

The disciples had received word that the Lord was not in His tomb. Did they assume He rose? Nope. Mary told them that He had been taken and she didn’t know where they had “laid” Him. Mary thought He was still dead. The disciples then ran to the empty tomb. Did they believe? Nope. Not yet at least. It wasn’t until they noticed the napkin…

This napkin was a cloth that covered the face of the deceased as they wrapped the body in the traditional burial fabric. The sight of it left behind in the tomb would not be any cause for an emotional reaction (neither excitement or sorrow), but the sight of it neatly folded and placed on the side: that might spark something.

If Jesus’ body was hastily removed in the middle of the night, it’s not likely the perpetrators would have paused to carefully fold the napkin covering His face.

Furthermore who would have removed His body in the first place? His disciples? How did they get past the guard? How did they get past the giant stone?

Was he moved by the Romans or Jews? If so why the secrecy? Why move Him at all if guards and stones were already in place?

The only logical explanation is Jesus rose from the dead and, being the polite young man His mother raised Him to be, carefully folded His napkin before leaving the tomb? Why?

Because though He was gone…He was coming back!

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

John 20:16

 

Have a great day!

 

 

*PS:

Some have tried to say this business with the napkin is not as important as it is made it out to be. They say it wasn’t really a napkin: which is silly; no one said it was a “napkin” napkin. It was a sweat towel that was–in this case–used to cover the face of the deceased. They say it wasn’t really folded. Which is silly, no one said it was “folded” folded; the translation is “wrapped together” and literally means “to twist” or “entwine” and implies that someone took deliberate action to make that cloth look the way it did. In other words, it wasn’t just discarded by happenstance.

Therefore the point stands: The cloth was put where it was and in such a way that it caused the disciple who looked in to see it and believe.