John 20:7-8 “And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and saw, and believed.”
It’s funny the things you remember as a kid that follow you into adulthood. As a child one of my jobs was to set the table before dinner. I always remember my mother saying, “fold the napkin, Joseph, and put them next to each plate”. Even today when we eat dinner together, in my mind I think to myself “fold the napkin”!
In Biblical times there were customs governing how one should act when visiting a Jewish home. The proper way to express gratitude after an evening meal was to casually crumple your napkin. However, if you had an unpleasant evening, you would fold your napkin and leave it as you found it. A folded napkin was a sign that you would never return to his house again.
In the empty tomb the folded napkin was left to send us a message from Jesus, “I’ve been to the grave and I will never return the same way”. Jesus, who faced death on our behalf and was raised to new life, will never die again. John saw the folded napkin and realized Jesus had risen from the dead. John 20:8 says they “saw and believed”, even though they didn’t fully understand the scripture that tells that Jesus had to rise from the dead. The folded napkin shows us that “it is finished”, Jesus isn’t doing this again. And when He does come back, He’s coming back as our victorious Savior who overcame sin and death. All this great news wrapped in a folded napkin!
