HE IS RISEN!
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
~Romans 10:9~
Easter makes me realize,
that death was not the end.
Because He was the first to rise,
It's how we enter in.
So, on this brilliant Easter morn,
As earth begins anew,
I take the time to focus,
And bring all things into view.
I know one day I'll see Him,
Face to face with Him I'll be.
Because of Easter morning,
Jesus died to set me free.
WHY DID JESUS FOLD THE NAPKIN?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never
noticed this....
The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over
the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave
clothes.
The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly
folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the
tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the
entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus
loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the
tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'
Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple
outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in
and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also 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 done'.
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!'
I received this email today, asking us to come together and pray for our country and ask for forgiveness.
Our nation is/has been on the slippery slope for a long time. If you look around you will find corruption, greed, moral decay, and a steady move away from the things that made us great. The principles upon which this nation was founded are no longer our backbone. However, we can reverse this trend.
In God's word he states, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
I am convinced that we must pray for our nation and its leaders and ask for forgiveness. So I ask you to join me in this plea to our Lord.
If we all do this, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear us and in faith will answer. I believe we will truly witness the power of prayer!
Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan - "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are one nation under God! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people of this.
HAPPY EASTER!
OTHER LINKS