Tuesday, April 14, 2009
John 20:3-7 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 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 around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
HE IS NOT HERE
Clothes can tell stories. They can tell us something about the wearer -- Is he rich or poor? What kind of work does he do? Where has he been? Some have suggested that clothing helps to tell the story of Napoleon's defeat in 1812. There is a theory that the tin buttons on the coats of his foot soldiers disintegrated in the severe Russian winter, leaving his army especially vulnerable to the cold.
Clothes help to tell the story of Easter too. The strips of linen that had once been wound around Jesus' body were lying there all alone on Sunday morning. The cloth that had once held the Lord's head was lying by itself as well. Those garments said plainly, "There is no body here!"
The disciples did not yet fully realize how Jesus needed to rise from the dead. But now we see those grave clothes and rejoice, for we know that Christ has risen from the dead! He is not in the grave! Come, see the place where He lay!
