***
Gospel: John 20: 1-8
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
There’s a beautiful, sometimes overlooked, detail in today’s Gospel.
***
After Jesus rose from the dead, he tossed his burial cloths aside – much like we’d toss aside dirty laundry, because he had no further use for them.
But he took the time to roll up the cloth once covering his head, placing it in a separate area.
Why would he do that?
***
There was a custom in ancient Israel where a master would drop his napkin on the table when he was finished eating, signaling for his servants to clean the table.
The napkin had served its purpose; it was used, much like dirty laundry.
But if the master folded his napkin, then it meant he wasn’t finished eating; he was coming back.
***
Jesus folded his napkin.
As the Gospel tell us, he “rolled it up in a separate place,” meaning:
“I’m not finished. I’m coming back.”
***
***
Image credits: (1) The Message Hub, WordPress (2) Art and the Bible, Burnand (3) The Exalted Christ