The Cloth
“Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” John 20:6&7
I have always been amazed with the verse. Talk about intentionality! Jesus was not in a rush. He simply sat up, took the cloth off His face and folded it. He then got up and took off the rest of the linen wrapped around His body.
Now me, on the other hand, I don’t see myself being that calm. Let’s imagine dying, going to hell and defeating Satan, taking the keys and then breathing on earth again. That’s a lot to deal with. It seems like a lot of emotions would be spiraling together at one time. Not that I’m emotional or anything, just supposing.
What was that first breath like? Did He have to adjust to breathing again? Did He lie there a minute getting acclimated?
Jesus took His time to fold what was covering His face and unwrapping what was holding Him bound. Let’s just pause here a minute and apply that to our lives: Jesus said He came to give us life to the fullest! (John 10:10) We cannot have a full life when we are blind and bound. Jesus did naturally to Himself what He came to do spiritually for us!
If my Savior, is this calm and intentional with the whole coming back to life thing, I think I can trust Him to be that way with the details in my life. How about you?
I don’t always see that part. I can get too distracted by all the things going on around me and in me.
“Then the disciple who reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed.” John 20:8 (NLT)
Something interesting here is that John, the writer, went in after Peter then saw and believed.
Saw = perceive, discern, experience (an inward spiritual perception)
Believed = have faith in, trust in, believe
This is different from the “see” in:
“Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but did not see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.’” Luke 10:23
See what you see = observe, look. See something physical with spiritual results.
The disciples were seeing the power of God in a way that others only dreamed about. It was tangible and real.
Whereas John, at the empty tomb, had faith or believed Jesus was raised because he discerned or perceived with more than his eyes. He had a knowing that Jesus was alive and not just taken.
Interesting thing #2:
“(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead).” John 20:9
Had = “Dei” means necessary, inevitable, duty, proper
The whole point of all of it was that Jesus came back to life. Talk about the long game, the intentional and painstaking planning to get to this moment.
Without Jesus coming back to life, we would have no hope. No power. We would stay blind and bound.
When they followed Jesus and saw His miracles and life-changing power at work, they believed. When they saw Him die on the cross and be buried, they mourned and maybe second-guessed everything. When he saw the folded cloth and empty tomb, John had believed. Others believed after having interactions with Jesus.
But the resurrection was going to happen whether they believed or not, saw or not, experienced or not.
Jesus endured everything for the joy of this moment. He saw you and me free and having a full life. I imagine His smile as He folded that cloth and slowly unwrapped the linen. Maybe He was thinking, “Jodi will be free from fear. She will love and be loved fully; laugh way too loud; love to dance and cry at silly things and hard things, and I love her.”
What do you think Jesus was thinking about you? You know He was.
Whatever looks fuzzy or overwhelming, we can trust a Savior who is so intentional with everything He did to take care of us and be there for us.
I hope you know how much you are loved and seen!!!
Have an amazing day!
All My love ~
Jodi xoxo
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