Fabric of Life:
Victory - Folded Grave Cloths
by Pastor Greg Fitch
Easter Sunday March 23, 2008
SCRIPTURE: John 20:1-8

Let me start out this morning by asking you a couple of questions.

Every day, a gentleman went to work. Every day, he would ride the elevator all the way to the bottom floor of the high rise apartment building that he lived in. But when he came home from work, he would ride the elevator back up to only the 6th floor. Then, he would take the stairs to his apartment many stories higher in the building. This he did every day, unless it was raining. If it was raining, he would ride the elevator all the way to the floor of his apartment. Why?

Here's another one to think about. Ann is lying on the floor dead. There's broken glass and water all around her. Stuart is asleep on the couch seemingly oblivious to the death that has occurred. How did Ann die?

Did you ever play those kind of mind games where you are presented with a scene, and you have to figure out what happened to make that scene the way that it is by asking questions that can only be answered with a "yes" or "no"?

Just so that you won't be trying to figure those out the rest of the morning instead of listening to what our main topic is today, I'll tell you the answers to them.

In the first one, the reason the gentleman would only go the 6th floor on his return home from work was because that was the highest button that he could reach on the elevator control panel. He was a short man. On days that it rained, he had his umbrella with him, and he could use that to punch the button that indicated his floor.

In the second situation, it might help you to know that Ann is a fish, and Stuart is a cat. And the glass and water all around Ann on the floor is from her fishbowl that Stuart successfully knocked over.

Let's try one more. One Friday night, a man dies. He is buried on that same night. On Sunday morning, some friends of his arrive at the tomb where he was buried to pay their last respects only to discover that his body is gone. What happened?

Ahah! You know the answer to this one, don't you. But there are a lot of people in this world who would ponder and wonder what the answer really is just like the first two puzzles I gave you a few moments ago. Let's look closer at the answer to this question as we read in our Bibles from John 20:1-8 (NIV)'

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

Early in the morning, a group of at least 5 women approached the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid. There had not been sufficient time after His crucifixion to properly prepare Him for His burial. As they got closer, suddenly a thought occurred to them: "Who is going to roll away that huge stone from the door of the cave?" (Mk 16:3) But in spite of the obstacle, they kept on going.

When they got to the tomb, they found a scene that they did not expect. They found the soldiers that guarded the tomb lying on the ground, looking very much like they were dead. (Mt. 28:4) But more amazing than that, they found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. (Mt 28:2 - angel rolled it away) So they walked past the guards and entered the tomb where Jesus body had been placed.

When they got there, they found the body gone! Suddenly, two angels appeared and proclaimed to them that Jesus had arisen! The angels told them to go and tell His disciples, so that is exactly what they did. (Lk 24:4-6)

When they got there, they caught their breath for a moment, and then they began to excitedly tell all that they had seen and heard. But the men didn't believe them. It sounded like a bunch of gibberish to them! (Lk 24:11) Guards that seemed to be dead … the stone rolled away … men in bright clothing … Jesus alive?! None of it made any sense. But the message was intriguing enough to provoke two of Jesus' disciples, John and Peter, to go to the tomb to see for themselves.

So John, Peter and Mary Magdalene head off to the tomb to see for themselves if they can figure out this mysterious occurrence that had happened that day.

There was an empty tomb. No one doubted that part of the women's story.

But what they needed to decide for themselves was why it was empty and what it all meant.

That's the same thing that you and I must decide. We all agree that there is an empty tomb. You and I wouldn't be here today if we didn't believe that. But the question is: how are we going to respond to that empty tomb. How is it going to affect your life?

EASTER ACCORDING TO OUR CULTURE

Our culture continues to wrestle with this question.

If you visited the shopping mall this week end, would your visit there help you understand the meaning of Easter?

Our culture definitely has an Easter holiday. You can buy chocolate Easter bunnies or real bunnies for your back yard. You can fill your Easter Basket with chocolate eggs and marshmallow baby chicks. You can wear new clothes, and you can even buy eggs from the grocery store all ready colored.

If you were an investigator and studied the merchandise in stores, I believe you would be hard pressed to discover the true meaning of Easter.

A trip through the aisles at WalMart (and I'm sure the other stores) any time this past week found massive displays of Easter baskets loaded with toys and sweets, it instantly reminded me of Christmas shopping … … … but there was something glaringly and tremendously absent from every mention of Easter ' I didn't see one thing that indicated anything about the true meaning and significance of Easter. Not one mention of Jesus … of a cross … of sacrifice … no empty tomb … it was all about getting and consuming … and the greatest gift of Easter was forgotten, or worse, intentionally ignored….

And the question continues to follow us: how are we going to respond to the news of the empty tomb? How are we going to respond to the eyewitness accounts of over 500 people who saw Jesus alive? We're going to have to work pretty hard to ignore some of the facts of this story.

o Over 500 witnesses saw the living Jesus after He rose from the grave (see 1 Cor. 15:1-8 … NIV)

1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also….

In addition to the eyewitness accounts, there were some other facts that helped solve the mystery of this puzzle on that first Easter morning, further informing us that Jesus was raised from the dead:

" Jesus' body was not stolen

o The soldiers testimony, albeit unintentional, is recorded in Matthew's gospel in the 28th chapter '

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,
13 telling them, "You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.'
14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."
15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.

o Notice how interesting it is that nobody, not the guards, nor the leaders of the time … nobody … nobody denied that Jesus' body was no longer in the grave

o Other evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, just as He told us he was going to do include:

o Heavy stone over the grave entrance was miraculously moved away.

o Neither the disciples, nor some other group of grave robbers would have taken time to unwrap the body or even less, take time to fold the wrappings if they were going to take Jesus' body from the tomb … The Gospel of John tells us that the cloth which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that this piece of fabric was neatly rolled up, and was placed separately at the head of that stony coffin.

The plain and simple fact is this ' nobody, not one person anywhere from among the people who witnessed these events … nobody denied that Jesus' body was no longer in the grave.

" Jesus was not there in the grave … we sometimes say that on Easter morning the tomb was empty, but that is not totally accurate … the tomb was not entirely empty because the grave cloths were still there … all that was left were the grave clothes … all of them! Not just the one wrapped around Jesus' face (someone might argue that these were removed to make sure it was Jesus). Some people state that they believe the grave cloths were left like an empty cocoon, deflated when the body of Jesus miraculously disappeared.

" Many of you have probably read the email circulating that tells a story about the meaning of the folded grave clothes. In that mailing it says that in Jesus' day when someone was eating, if that person left the table and "bunched up" their napkin, they were announcing that they were done. But if they folded the napkin at the table it meant that they were coming back. While I like the story, finding the cloth from Jesus' face folded, or rolled up (more accurate to the Greek language), and claiming it means Jesus is coming back like a dinner guest is … sorry to burst the bubble on this one … it appears to be a myth. I did some reading and searching and can find no evidence that this custom existed in ancient Israel … and I've read others who state there is no evidence to support this claim. Sad, but likely true. It made for a great story and image …

" BUT HONESTLY … you and I don't need this story/tradition to be true, because we have something even better ' we have Jesus' words and promise (John 14:1-3 … NRSV):

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

I tell you that I believe in the resurrection of Jesus because somebody told me about it. Some people would immediately reply that the information we have isn't very reliable. Well, the truth of the matter is that most of what we know is simply because somebody told us about it.

How do you know that Columbus discovered America in 1492. Were you there? No, you were not there, but there were people there who witnessed and wrote about it and that is how we know about that.

How do you personally know that a man has walked on the moon? Were you standing there to meet him when he stepped off? Well, you say, I know it because I saw it on TV. There are people to this day who insist that it was all done in a fake TV studio down in Hollywood. Many of them would insist that the International Space Station is all a hoax. That may sound absurd, but the truth of the matter is I cannot prove it or disprove it either way and neither can you. In the end, I guess I would have to say: I do believe that a man has walked on the moon, simply because a lot of people have told me about it.

We have far more historical proof of the resurrection than we do thousands of pieces of information which we routinely accept as fact every single day. If we are going to take a stand on something, then take a stand on this well documented and witnessed event … this most important event in all of time and history. See, or imagine, the folded grave cloths, and remember how much Jesus loved, and still loves you.