Why Did Jesus Fold The Napkin?

[Coconut]

Why did Jesus fold the napkin?

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

I never noticed this.......
John 20:7 tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the
face of Jesus, was not 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 that Sunday morning, 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 and I don't know where they have taken 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 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 napkin
that had covered Jesus face was folded up and lying to one side.

Is that important? Absolutely!

Is that really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin,
you have to understand a little bit about the 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 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.
The Servant would not dare touch that table until the Master was finished.

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".

I did not know this....
If the Master got up from the table, and folded his napkin beside
his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,
because....the folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is coming back!


-author unknown

 

[ucbones]

Thanks for that illumination Coconut many of these items get passed over because we don't bother to study historically.

Reminds me of a time I came to understand why it was that the disciples eagerly jumped up and followed Jesus. This had been puzzling me for a time when I learned that it was considered a great honour for a rabbi to ask a student to follow him. Usually students would only attend school during the day and then return home. Students usually never spent every day with a rabbi. So it was a great honour to the family and the man when he was asked to 'follow'. A chance that any respecting Jew at the time would jump at and quickly leave home and family.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Blessings

 

[Chad]

Awesome read! Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Posted this on Facebook as well as my status update

 

[Coconut]

I owe you all an apology. I received this 'devotional' in my email and it did not cite a single source that I can verify this custom, but I should not have posted it without first checking for a valid source, sloppy work on my part.

It was bugging me, so I tried to do just that, but have found nothing so far.

Maybe someone else can help me here...

 

[Coconut]

All I found:

In my search for a legitimate biblical scholar who may have referenced the custom, I found only one Jewish scholar (David Bivin, founder of Jerusalem Perspective, and member of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, a think tank made up of Jewish and Christian scholars dedicated to better understanding the Synoptic Gospels) who had referenced this custom (of folding the napkin at the dinner table) and he did so in response to this very email.

His answer?

http://forum.jerusalemperspective.com/viewtopic.php?t=377

Thats all she wrote...lesson learned the hard way (or the Coconut way)

 

[stephen]

These things were lying in the place as they were when they were wrapped about Him. Jesus merely passed out of them, without disturbing them, not needing......as Lazurus to be loosed !! (11:44)

It was proof that a resurrected body could arise without disturbing material objects. The stone was rolled away....not to let Jesus out...but to show the disciples that He had risen.

As I see it.

Let the scholars balk.....

 

[jiggyfly]

All I found:

In my search for a legitimate biblical scholar who may have referenced the custom, I found only one Jewish scholar (David Bivin, founder of Jerusalem Perspective, and member of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, a think tank made up of Jewish and Christian scholars dedicated to better understanding the Synoptic Gospels) who had referenced this custom (of folding the napkin at the dinner table) and he did so in response to this very email.

His answer?

JerusalemPerspective.com :: View topic - Christ's Linen Napkin (John 20:7): Is it significant that the napkin that had been around Jesus' head when he was buried was found in the empty tomb folded?

Thats all she wrote...lesson learned the hard way (or the Coconut way)

Good post Coconut and good link. I read the OP and did my own search through some of my library and could not find any reference to this custom either.

I think that the point and purpose for this record in scriptures is to show that Jesus super-naturally passed right through His grave clothes by the power of God.

 

[stephen]

These things were lying in the place as they were when they were wrapped about Him. Jesus merely passed out of them, without disturbing them, not needing......as Lazurus to be loosed !! (11:44)

It was proof that a resurrected body could arise without disturbing material objects. The stone was rolled away....not to let Jesus out...but to show the disciples that He had risen.

As I see it.

Let the scholars balk.....

"I think that the point and purpose for this record in scriptures is to show that Jesus super-naturally passed right through His grave clothes by the power of God". Bro Jiggy.......

Surely

 

[jiggyfly]

These things were lying in the place as they were when they were wrapped about Him. Jesus merely passed out of them, without disturbing them, not needing......as Lazurus to be loosed !! (11:44)

It was proof that a resurrected body could arise without disturbing material objects. The stone was rolled away....not to let Jesus out...but to show the disciples that He had risen.

As I see it.

Let the scholars balk.....

Good post Stephen, I must have passed over it, I agree.

It is very apparent that just as Jesus said the gates of Hades did not prevail against Him the Head of the body of Christ.