The Napkin, John 20:7 (Part 1)

As I write this article it is Easter weekend. Truly this is a wonderful remembrance holiday for man and a bittersweet memory for The Holy Trinity. I am writing today because I received an email recently that was very interesting. The email was titled in the form of a question; Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin? This email is referring to an event in history and more specifically a verse in the Bible, The Gospel of John chapter 20, verse 7. Perhaps you have received this email and maybe you were amazed and pleased with it's message. Maybe you wondered if the story in the email was actually true. Come with me and let us take a closer look at the facts and then you can decide for yourself.

Let's start with the verse, John 20:7 and see what it says. "And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." The context of this verse is that when Mary Magdalene, early in the morning when it was still dark, discovered that the stone had been rolled away from Jesus' tomb. She ran from the tomb and came upon Simon Peter and also to the disciple whom Jesus loved. Mary Magdalene told the two disciples, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, (burial tomb), and we know not where they have laid him." Peter and the other disciple ran straight away to Christ's tomb. They found what Mary Magdalene had said, was true. Peter entered the tomb and The Gospel of John chapter 20, verse 6 says that, "He went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie."

Here we arrive at the verse about the folded, rolled, or wrapped napkin. The story in the email reads like this, "Simon Peter noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side. Was that important? 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 with 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 finished.." But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because.......... The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

What a beautiful story about our Lord and Saviour and how he is coming back for His faithful. The story would be even better reading if the part about the napkin were true. It is not true. I have searched for such a Hebrew tradition and I have not been able to find evidence that such a tradition ever existed. There are very good reasons why this story is false.

The Jews know what it is like to be a servant or better yet a slave. The Jewish race was enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years. It took The Lord, Moses, and ten plagues to free the Israelites. It is experiences like these that the Jewish culture is very sensitive to issues about a Jew being a servant, let alone a Jewish boy being a servant. A Jewish boy cannot be a servant to another Jew or human. This is a forbidden practice. A Jew must willingly subjugate himself to another Jew or human and must not be forced into servitude. A Jewish boy does not posses the legal right to put himself in service to a master. If a Jew enters into servitude it must only be for a period of six years and he goes free in the seventh year. You see a Jew was not born to serve man but yet he was born to serve, The Almighty. Actually, this applies to the rest of the human race as well. First to the Jew and then to the Gentile.

If a master receives a Jew for a servant the master has rules that he must follow. The master must understand that the Jewish servant in his house is his brother or his equal. If there is only one pillow in the house to sleep on the Jewish servant would get the pillow. The Jewish servant would also eat at the same table as the master at the same time. It is ridiculous that one Jew would wait around the corner just out of sight from his Jewish master when they were supposed to be equals. The master was not allowed to demean the servant in any way whatsoever. These are just a few of the reasons as to why this story is a myth.