Connecting the Dots: The Graveclothes of Jesus
Narrative from The Gospel of John Chapters 19:41—20:10
Jesus Christ has been killed by crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathaea, a secret disciple of Jesus begs Pilate, the Roman governor, for the body of Jesus. Pilate consents, and collectively Joseph, and another secret disciple of Jesus, Nicodemus, take the body of Jesus and embalm it, using around 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes and strips of linen cloth. They mummify the body of Jesus. Then they put it in a garden tomb, which is near Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. The tomb in this garden is hitherto unused.
They lay the body of Jesus in this tomb, and other Gospel writers tell us that the tomb is sealed with a great stone. All this happens on Friday. The Jewish religious leaders, in cahoots with Roman authorities, further seal the grave, and set two Roman guardsmen.
Then comes John 20:1, and the first day of the week, Sunday. Mary Magdalene decides to rise before dawn, and come to the tomb in the dark. She takes the risk of doing this as a woman, when in that culture going outdoors in the dark made her vulnerable to attacks, with hardly anyone around to help if she were attacked. Upon arriving at the tomb, the Bible tells us she realizes that the stone with which the tomb was sealed, is now moved out of place, not covering the opening to the tomb anymore.
Fear seizes her. Have you ever put something that your life depended on in a certain place, and then find it missing when you really needed it? It’s that kind of fear, but compounded many times more, that Mary feels here. Then the Bible tells us that Mary runs, seeing the missing stone. Her destination: where ever Peter and John are located.
She arrives wherever Peter and John are lodged and says to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” They have taken away the Lord. Who “they” are, and how they took the Lord away, she does not seem to know. And Peter and John don’t need to know, because no sooner than they hear about the missing body of Jesus, do they join the running club. They run together, and John outruns Peter! Maybe he was fitter and Peter was fatter? Or maybe he was just younger than Peter. I’m not sure!
The Graveclothes
John reaches the tomb first, and stoops down to look in. The tomb would have been partly below ground level, partly above, having an awkward entrance through which people couldn’t enter standing upright. John stooping down and looking in, sees the strips of linen cloth that were used by Joseph and Nicodemus to mummify the body of Jesus. He sees this, but for whatever reason, refrains from entering. But not Peter!
Peter arrives a little after John, and not to be shamed by John for losing a foot race to him, I can imagine Peter pushing John out of the way, and saying, “Out of the way, Johnny, I’m going in!” He enters and sees the same strips of linen cloth.
But specifically, Peter notices the headcloth, folded and lying by itself apart from the other strips.
Now what Peter says to John after he comes out, we’re not told. But it was probably something very compelling. “John, did you notice the head cloth so neatly folded?” Because whatever hesitation John had from previously entering, is overcome. And the Bible says at the end of John 20, verse 8, “he saw and he believed.”
What did he believe?
Now just what did John believe? This has been reason for debate among scholars. Did he believe that the body of Jesus was taken away from the tomb? Did John think it possible for the Roman guard to be killed, the stone removed, the body of Jesus to be unwrapped, and for the corpse robbers to run away with it? All very unlikely to have happened. But did he believe all this happened? Or is it that John believes, for some reason only after seeing the grave clothes, that Jesus rose from the dead?
Now, if we think of the statement made by Mary, “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” and then read verse 9, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead,” then we might be led to understand that John believed the lie that Jesus’ body was taken away. And that’s why, in verse 10, they seem to go home in hopelessness.
But remember, they were already hopeless before this. They had seen their Lord and Master being brutally whipped, beaten, and crucified. They knew He was dead, and all they held dear, Christ Himself, was taken away from them. So, they may have believed the lie about Jesus’ body being stolen prior to seeing the grave clothes. But I don’t think John (or for that matter Peter) believed this lie anymore. I think something else is going on here.
When disciples of Christ believe a lie about Christ that makes us hopeless, how does Christ restore our faith and hope in Him? I believe one of the ways, according to this text, that Jesus restores our faith and hope in Him is…
by leaving us reminders of His past works.
That’s what Christ does for Peter and John here. The strips of cloth lying on the ground, but the head cloth lying folded by itself, was a reminder to John and Peter that Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus Christ. They were there, witnessing that miracle, for it was for their sake that Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, so that they might believe. When Jesus called Lazarus forth from the dead, the Bible says in John 11:44, he “came forth bound hand and foot with strips of cloth, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.”
What did Jesus ask the by-standers to do then?—Remove the grave clothes: free him from them. Lazarus certainly needed help to be raised from the dead, but also needed help to be loosed from his graveclothes. Jesus is communicating to Peter and John with the folded head cloth: “I don’t need help like Lazarus did! Remember his face cloth being removed? I took mine off myself! You saw his facecloth after he rose from the dead. Now you see mine. Connect the dots.”
And I think they did connect the dots. They may have not been able to connect the dots of scripture as we are told, but a tangible and symbolic reminder of Christ’s past works, served as an indicator of His present power. I think Peter and John went home in a better frame of mind and heart than they came. They may not have fully and clearly understood that Christ had risen, but this was certainly the starting point of a growing faith in the risen Christ. The reminder had worked!
I’m sure you have reminders of your own that the Lord has given you. But if you don’t, here’s a way you can remind yourself every morning of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. I think some may find this a silly analogy, but don’t miss the symbolism for the silliness. (For those with children, maybe a good way of teaching solid truth and a good habit).
When you get up from bed every morning, make your bed. Fold your sheets, as a reminder that Jesus folded the grave cloth around his face. And if Jesus is your Savior and Lord, preach to yourself, “Just as I rose from this bed today, one day I will rise from the dead like Jesus did.” Every day as we wake up from sleep, it is a reminder to those who believe in Jesus Christ, that one day we will experience the resurrection like Jesus did. That will be the day when this corruptible body puts on incorruption, and this mortal body puts on immorality.
Kenny Damara
