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THE NAPKIN IS STILL FOLDED

JOHN 20:1-7

[Concept for this sermon originally preached by Dr. Clyde Box. I receive many questions as to the historicity of the "Napkin Legend"...Dr. Box reportedly says it comes from an "old book" on his shelf. Jewish historians do not largely debate it, but there are some critiques of this legend. When I present this publicly I make this clarification and do not present it as fact, but focus on the truths it illustrates.]

In Bible days, when someone died, it was the duty of a family member to close the eyes and kiss the cheek of the dead. When Christ died, this became the duty of two men: Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus. They went to Pontius Pilate and begged the body of the Lord Jesus.

Then they had to take Him down from the cross…which was not an easy chore. First, they had to rig a ladder, and climb up the side of the cross, and then they had to pull His hands off over the nails. There was no way they could get those spikes out of the wood, not from that angle, not w/ His hands inbetween the wood and the nail head. Once the hands were loosed, they allowed the body of Jesus to sag into a sheet, and would then remove His feet from the nail in the same manner.

They took the body of Jesus to a new tomb, that Joseph had prepared for himself. They washed His body, and wrapped it in white linen, folding His arms over His chest. They closed His eyes, kissed His cheek, and placed a napkin over His face.

They walked away from that tomb, and no doubt they walked in silence…so that all you could hear was the sounds of their sadness, muffled crying, and sniffing. Surely it must have felt like a huge ball of lead in the pit of their stomachs, as they were thinking, “it’s all over, the end of the dream…and it only lasted for 3 short years.”

3 days passed like an eternity…and I believe w/ all my heart that the birds refused to sing, and the sun refused to shine. For 3 days, all the demons of hell rejoiced, and Satan and the forces of darkness thought they had won a great victory. For 3 days, the Jewish leaders, as well as the Roman government, congratulated themselves on their brilliant scheme. But on the 3^rd day, something wonderful and miraculous happened, as God the Father said to an angel in heaven, “Go get him!” And when the angel’s feet hit the ground, the stone rolled away, and up from the grave He arose…He lives!

In our text, Mary comes first to the empty tomb. She sees the stone rolled away and it frightens her. And so she runs to get Peter and John, and they run together to the tomb as fast as they could. John outran Peter, and when he got there, he looked inside, and saw those grave clothes lying there in disarray. Then Peter arrived and, just as we’d expect of him, went right in. He also saw the linen clothes lying there, but there was something unusual in that scene. Something caught their eye that was very interesting.

The Gospel of John 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. Is that important? You’d better believe it! Is that significant? 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 w/ 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 were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad 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 aside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.” The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!” Excuse me while I shout (Baptist style).

Peter and John had walked w/ Christ for 3 years. They had watched as He opened blind eyes and deaf ears. They watched as He literally raised people from the dead. Then they watched Him die…and as they watched, all of their hopes, all of their dreams were shattered! All they could think was, “it’s over, it’s all over!” And for 3 long days they were in the depths of despair…the lights of their soul had gone dim. Peter even said, I’m goin’ fishin’. I’m goin’ back to what I used to do.

Then after 3 days, they saw an empty tomb. Not only did they see an empty tomb, but they saw a folded napkin in that empty tomb! I believe w/ all my heart that when they saw that folded napkin God spoke to them in their being and said, “He’s not finished yet…He’s coming back!”

I thank God today that

He’s not finished yet!/the tomb is empty/our Savior is alive/the napkin is still folded!

I submit to you today that

1. He’s not finished saving souls!

The folded napkin says that He’s not finished saving souls. The Bible says that Jesus came into this world for one reason: to save sinners.

John 3

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Acts 4

¹²Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

For that reason, there are 2 kinds of people in this room today. And the distinction is not black and white…for God doesn’t see us that way.

Rich/poor educated/uneducated republican/democrat

In the eyes of God, there are 2 kinds of people here today:

Those that have already been saved/Those who need to be saved

Many people have the mistaken idea that good people ARE saved and only bad people NEED to be saved. Certainly bad people NEED to be saved…and so do “good” people.

May I say as clearly as possible, that no one exists who’s so bad they CAN’T be saved…and no one so good they don’t NEED to be saved!

Rom. 3

²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

In God’s eyes, there’s no difference…there are no big sinners and little sinners, just sinners. In God’s eyes, I’m as guilty of breaking God’s holy standard as is Osama bin Ladin. In God’s eyes, there are sinners who have been forgiven…like me, and sinners who have not been…but certainly CAN be.

Years ago, the great evangelist Billy Sunday was preparing to go into a certain city to do a major crusade. He wrote ahead of time to the mayor of the city, and said, “would you please send me the names of people in your area who need serious spiritual help”. To Sunday’s surprise, the mayor sent him…the telephone book! That mayor knew something. He understood that we all need spiritual help.

The napkin is still folded…He’s still saving souls!

2. The napkin is still folded…He’s not finished reclaiming backsliders!

A few days before Christ died, He took His disciples aside and told them what was about to happen. He said, I’m going to be betrayed, arrested, beaten, and crucified. Then he looked at the disciples and said, all of you are going to desert me when the heat is on.

The Apostle Peter rose up in typical style and said, Not me, Lord. “though all shall be offended, yet will I never be offended.” In other words, Lord, I don’t know about the rest of these bums, but you can count on me! Then he said, “Though I should die w/ thee, yet will I not deny thee.”

Can’t you just see Jesus shaking his head, saying, Peter, you’re gonna deny me three times by tomorrow morning!

Then the Roman soldiers came to arrest the Lord Jesus…w/ swords and shields and spears. And courage welled up in Peter’s heart, and he took out his sword, and even took a swing at them. He lopped off the ear of one of them…and I doubt he was aiming for his ear! (demonstrate)

The Lord did something incredible. He said, friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your…no that’s a different book!

Seriously, he picked up that ear, and supernaturally reattached it to the man’s head. I don’t know about you, but if I were a Roman soldier that day, and I saw that miracle, I would have changed sides! “Hey fellas, I came w/ you, but I’m leavin’ w/ Him!”

They arrested Jesus and subjected Him to shear torture. And while this was happening, Peter’s courage turned to butter. A young lady approached and said, “I know you, you were with Him”. And this same man who had just stood up to the entire Roman army, now backed down and said, “I don’t know the man!” Another came up and said the same, and again he denied Christ. Yet another said, your accent betrays you, you’re a Galilean, you’re one of His disciples, and he not only denied Christ that 3^rd time, but for emphasis threw in a few cuss words…I don’t know the blankety-blank man, leave me alone! And the rooster immediately crowed, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus. And he looked off into the distance, and there stood Christ, and their eyes caught. And when he saw the sadness and sorrow in the eyes of Jesus, it broke His heart.

He went out to a rock and pounded on it and said, “Oh God, how could I have done this…how can you ever forgive me?” And for 3 days he lived in shame, guilt, and misery, realizing he had denied the Lord.

Listen now, let me drop a blessing in your heart. Look at Mark’s acct of the easter story, on screen:

Mark 16

¹And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. ²And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. ³And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? ⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. ⁵And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. ⁶And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. ⁷But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Can’t you see it in your mind’s eye…these ladies run to the disciples to tell them the good news. He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s risen from the dead!!

Can’t you see Peter, in the corner of the room, shocked, saying, what? What did you say? It’s true!

“Yes, He said to meet Him Galilee!”

And Peter, who has been in the depths of depression for 3 days, stunned at the reality of the Resurrection, and almost encouraged, is once again plagued in his mind at his pitiful denial of Christ, and is dragged right back down into his pit of despair, and thought, “surely He doesn’t mean for me to come…I denied Him 3 times, I cussed and swore…surely, surely He doesn’t mean me!”

And the ladies said, oh, Peter, by the way…He mentioned you by name!!!

(Excuse me while I get Bapticostal!)

Yes, he mentioned you by name!

“He did? What’d He say?”

He said, go tell the disciples…and Peter.

Why did Jesus want to see Peter…to rebuke him? No, he wanted to restore him! And one of the sweetest scenes you’ll ever see in scripture is Peter and Jesus, coming together, and Jesus hugging him and saying, Peter, do you love me? Not, “Peter, are you gonna cuss any more?” No! He said, do you love me?

That’s the real issue. If you’re here today and you know you’re a backslider, let me ask you, was there a time when you WERE right with Him? You see, the real question is not, are you gonna drink anymore?/cuss anymore?…the real question today is “do you love Him?”……..He loves you!

The napkin is still folded: He’s still saving souls

He’s still reclaiming backsliders

I heard about a little boy who had done something very naughty. His mother punished him. He was afraid his mother was still angry at him…in the kitchen there was a chalkboard on the wall where they wrote down phone messages. When no one was around, he wrote on that chalkboard, dear mom, if you forgive me, please wipe this out.

He went to his room, and about an hour later returned, and to his surprise and joy that chalkboard had been completely erased!

Are you away from God right now? Bring your sins to the cross…

…Jesus will not rub them in, He’ll rub them out!

If you’re here today and you need to be saved, or you need to come BACK to God, I need to remind you there’s coming a day when another supper will take place…it’s called the marriage supper of the Lamb, and I have a feeling that at the marriage supper of the Lamb, that at the end of the meal, Jesus will stand at the head of the table, and He’s gonna wipe His fingers/mouth/clean His beard, and He’s gonna take His napkin, and cast it aside…when that happens, it IS over! The last soul that’s gonna be saved, has been saved. The last backslider that’s gonna come home has!

I beg of you, don’t wait ‘til it’s too late. Right now, the napkin is still folded!

Remember the prodigal son…when he came home, his father welcomed him home w/ open arms!

Today, Jesus is calling you home, the napkin is still folded!

Good person or bad…you need to be saved. Pray a prayer like this, right where you sit…

If you need to be saved or need to come home to Christ…please come.

Maybe you want to pray for a wayward one in your life. If you’ll come to the altar, we’ll have special prayer for them this morning.

If you appreciate this sermon ministry and would like to help spread the Word and recommend it to others, please take a moment and vote for this sermon. [You will then have to scroll down to enter your vote.]