[CS-FSLUG] Why Did Jesus Fold The Napkin???

[Fred A. Miller]

  Why Did Jesus Fold The Napkin???

This is very interesting.  I had never heard it before.  Why did Jesus 
fold the napkin?  Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His 
resurrection?

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.

1.     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.

2.    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!"

3.    Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.

4.    The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.

5.    He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but 
he didn't go in.

6.    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 ball 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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