Tuesday the 6th

John 20: ⁶Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

 

I love this part of the Scripture in John. Notice that John makes a point to notice that the cloth around Christ’s head was folded up and separate. Most read over this and don’t give it a second thought, but this small detail reminds me of a custom of the time that most have forgotten about. When the master of a house excused himself from the table during dinner, the servants paid attention to the masters cloth. If he crumpled it up, and put it in the middle of the plate it meant that he was not coming back (many of us do this at restaurants today to show that we are done eating) but if he folded that cloth, and set it to the side, then the servant knew that the master was coming back, he was not done. Here in this scripture we see that the cloth was folded and set to the side….our Master was not done, He was going to return, there was still work to be done. That linen is still folded today, there is still work to be done, and our Master is still set to return. He has put us in charge of carrying out His work until He returns again. There is no doubt that it is a long row to hoe, but as my Father always told us, “it will never get done, if you don’t start” And start we must. Through the direction of the Holy Spirit, the strength found in Christ, and the Love of God, each one of us will find the path we need to take, it might not be a smooth path, and the journey might be a long one, but we will persevere, we will overcome, and we will be successful. The cloth is still folded, and we await the Masters return, but there is much still to do. As we continue through this Easter season, on our way to Pentecost Sunday, let us each resolve to start down the path, the journey might be long, but it must be started if we are to finish.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

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