The Folded Napkin

[Sword-In-Hand]

John 20:7,
7and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

I was just made aware the signifcance of this bit of information, that made John believe.

Has anyone ever heard of the lineage of the napkin? It was custom that while a servant was serving the master, if he was eating and noticed that the master used the napkin, wiped his mouth and then crumpled it up and threw it on the table, the servant knew that his master was finished and it was time to clean up.

However, if the servant saw that his master did not crumple the napkin up but folded it neatly and placed it at his side, then the servant knew that the master was not finished and he still had work to do.

Awesome how Jesus left this tiny little sign. Jesus is still at work and indeed we should be at work, because there is still lots left to do before His return. I'm glad He left the sign that He wasn't finished with us yet.

 

[Matthan]

S-I-H, where do you come up with these biblical tid-bits? This one is wonderful! Could you possibly give your source for this info?

Matthan <J><

 

[Iollain]

That is just kewl

 

[aReformedPatriot]

thats awesome.

 

[SonOfThunder]

nice thought thankyou for sharing

 

[Sword-In-Hand]

S-I-H, where do you come up with these biblical tid-bits? This one is wonderful! Could you possibly give your source for this info?

Matthan <J><

My pastor did a detailed study on it, so I don't have the resources at hand, but I can see where he got them from and post them.

 

[Gold Dragon]

John 20:7,
7and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

I was just made aware the signifcance of this bit of information, that made John believe.

That is a nice piece of imagery but I would caution in looking too deeply into assigning too much meaning to the word "folded" here which is from the greek entullisso and is translated in the KJV as "wrapped" and the NASB as "rolled". I think the word "folded" is only used in the NIV, NKJV and a few others.

I wouldn't be surprised if at some time and culture, this folding napkin tradition existed. I'm skeptical that it existed in the Jewish culture in Jesus' day and that Jesus intended it as being symbolic of his second coming.

The more traditional interpretation is that recording the careful placement of the burial cloths was evidence that Jesus' body was not stolen.

 

[Sword-In-Hand]

That is a nice piece of imagery but I would caution in looking too deeply into assigning too much meaning to the word "folded" here which is from the greek entullisso and is translated in the KJV as "wrapped" and the NASB as "rolled". I think the word "folded" is only used in the NIV, NKJV and a few others.

I wouldn't be surprised if at some time and culture, this folding napkin tradition existed. I'm skeptical that it existed in the Jewish culture in Jesus' day and that Jesus intended it as being symbolic of his second coming.

The more traditional interpretation is that recording the careful placement of the burial cloths was evidence that Jesus' body was not stolen.

No offense, but somehow I knew someone would knit-pick on this. Oh well....

 

[aReformedPatriot]

No offense, but somehow I knew someone would knit-pick on this. Oh well....

Perhaps its human nature to make things more complicated than it needs to be.

Sword, do not the words "wrapped", "rolled" seem to denote some care to you? Whenever I goto a fancy steakhouse I get a cloth napkin. My natural inclination, or at the very least pure laziness, forces me to wad it up when I am done and throw it on the plate. I certainly don't take much time to roll it or wrap it. Then one has to ask why did he put it off to the side and not with the other linen cloths?

I wouldn't make doctrine out of it, but it would certainly be in the character of Christ to use that kind of symbolism.

 

[Gold Dragon]

No offense, but somehow I knew someone would knit-pick on this. Oh well....

No prob. I know I have a nit-pick problem and should leave these harmless things alone. I tried to start off the post by being supportive of the imagery.

I guess my concern is with how easily urban legends seem to be propogated and accepted as "truth" in Christian circles because they provide messages that feel good or that we agree with. While our faith does need to be child-like, we also need to develop critical thinking skills and challenge what we hear.

There are many obvious instances where Christ said that he was coming again. We don't need to resort to stretching the truth to support that.

 

[DiscipleOfIAm]

It works both ways. It's nice to have a brother or sister that checks the details for us and reminds us to be cautious on certain things! I always enjoy your detailed insight Gold Dragon. But, having been the poster in this situation before as well, I can see where he feels like someone has taken his post and analyzed it too much.

No worries brother. Do not change your ways!

God Bless

 

[Gold Dragon]

It works both ways. It's nice to have a brother or sister that checks the details for us and reminds us to be cautious on certain things! I always enjoy your detailed insight Gold Dragon. But, having been the poster in this situation before as well, I can see where he feels like someone has taken his post and analyzed it too much.

No worries brother. Do not change your ways!

God Bless

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I'm prone to overanalysis and I apologize to Sword-In-Hand for this.

 

[Sword-In-Hand]

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I'm prone to overanalysis and I apologize to Sword-In-Hand for this.

Oh Gold, no need to apologize, it's cool. Sometimes we have to be critical and even overcritical of things.

This story just gave me encouragement and more hope and I wanted to share that with others.

 

[PromiseSeeker]

Thank you that was interesting!

 

[SumTinWong]

John 20:7,
7and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

I was just made aware the signifcance of this bit of information, that made John believe.

Has anyone ever heard of the lineage of the napkin? It was custom that while a servant was serving the master, if he was eating and noticed that the master used the napkin, wiped his mouth and then crumpled it up and threw it on the table, the servant knew that his master was finished and it was time to clean up.

However, if the servant saw that his master did not crumple the napkin up but folded it neatly and placed it at his side, then the servant knew that the master was not finished and he still had work to do.

Awesome how Jesus left this tiny little sign. Jesus is still at work and indeed we should be at work, because there is still lots left to do before His return. I'm glad He left the sign that He wasn't finished with us yet.

Cool story SIH!