VISIBLE SIGNS OF THE RESURRECTION

Many visible testimonies to the resurrection of Christ can be seen. The stone rolled away, the empty tomb, and one of the most intriguing, the abandoned grave clothes. John 20:6-7 tells us that when Peter and John ran to investigate the empty tomb they "saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." As though he had just stepped out of them the linen cloths were just lying there. The head cloth, carefully folded or rolled up, was some distance away.

On the Internet today you will find that some are saying that this folded face-cloth, in some versions a towel, or a handkerchief, or in the old King James, a "napkin," points to a Jewish custom. If the Master leaves a meal unfinished and just wads up his napkin and throws it down, it means he is finished and the servant can clean up the table. But if he carefully folds it and lays it on the table, and goes away, it says to his servant, "I am not finished -- I will be back." Could this be what the folded head cloth meant? Perhaps, although research indicates that there is no proof that this was actually a Jewish custom and we might question the idea that a dinner napkin was used as a grave head cloth.

This much seems certain, however, that the abandoned grave cloths and the carefully folded head cloth say that the body was not stolen by a fast-moving body snatcher. Rather, they point to the calm, unhurried exit by one who had no further need of them.

But there is another visible testimony to the resurrection that outweighs all others -- the weekly gathering of disciples to commune with their living Lord. If Jesus was really still in the tomb, and had never shown himself to his disciples, there is no way that a few followers could resurrection their fellowship. In no way could they fool themselves, or pull off the greatest hoax ever seen. They knew in their hearts, deep down, that he was alive and they were willing to do whatever it took to meet with him weekly at his table. The very existence of the church is a result of the resurrection and its most powerful witness.

At the Lord's Table then, we proclaim not only the Lord's death but also his resurrection. It is the resurrection that created our community of faith and hope. As Peter put it in 1 Peter 1:3, "We (as the church and as individuals) have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."