The Mystery of the Napkin: What Did John See?

"They Have Moved the Lord." Mary Magdalene's first visit to the tomb was while it yet dark.ⁱ She saw that the stone had been moved; whereupon she ran and told the apostles Peter and Johnⁱⁱ, "They've moved the Lord out of the tomb; we don't know where they've taken him."

Whereupon both apostles ran to the tomb. John beat Peter there, stooped down and looked into the tomb. He saw only the linen covering. Peter meanwhile arrived, moved past him, went inside and "seeth"ⁱⁱⁱ the linen cloths (i.e., Greek: othonion^G3608,^iv "bandages") were "laying outstretched"^v (20:6). The bandages had been "laid out" there. Although there was no corpse, yet the cloths were not aimlessly wadded up and cast aside.

Also, the mentioned "napkin" (KJV) that had been about Jesus' head was "wrapped" in a place separate from the rest of the linen cloths (i.e., "bandages", 20:7). Peter "carefully"^vi beheld the linen bandages and the separate "napkin" but did not understand it. According to Luke's account (Luke 24:12) Peter went away “wondering” still. He was trying to figure out what had happened. Later, Jesus upbraided the apostles for their initial unbelief of His resurrection which He had predicted to them (Mark 16:14).

John went next into the tomb and saw^vii and confessed in his book that he believed. It is evident then that when John initially looked into the tomb he did not believe even though he saw the burial cloths. Whatever significance was in the arrangement of the cloths, it persuaded John upon closer observation that Jesus' corpse had not been moved by men as Mary had supposed. He knew that Jesus had done what He said He was going to do^viii: Jesus had risen from the dead. John was the first to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead even before he saw Him. John records this great moment where he believed without seeing Jesus in contrast to the other apostles, especially Thomas (John 20:29)."^ix What John saw convinced him; he believed.

A modern distracting story tells us that Jesus folded his napkin like aristocrats did with at dinner when they temporarily left dinner that the cleaning slaves would know that he was coming back to sit at the table. This story is that Jesus left a subtle symbolic message that He was coming back.

However, the Biblical record does not tell us that John saw an underlying coded message in the burial cloths arrangements.

Aristocrat? Jesus was not an aristocrat which is required for the symbolic to work in the story. Sweat Towel. "And the napkin, that was about his head" (20:7). The Romans had introduced two uses of a cloth: the sudarium, a “sweat cloth” for the face, and the mappa, a large cloth for eating while reclining.^x An eating cloth was a mappa. The English word for use by the KJV, "napkin", is from the French nappe, meaning a cloth covering for a table. Jesus' so-labeled "napkin" was not a mappa but "a sudarium^G4647(sweat cloth), that is, towel (for wiping the perspiration from the face, or for binding the face of a corpse)" (Strong's). The sudarium is referred to in Luke 19:20, John 11:44, John 20:7, and Acts 19:12. Three of the translations translate the word with the French derived word napkin (in KJV, AS, RSV) which might be what probably started the legend. Others translate it as burial cloth (NIV), handkerchief (NKJV), or face-cloth (NASB).^xi It would not have been a dinner mappa, nappe or napkin which was used for ceremonially clean dining but would have been a towel or a dedicated ceremonially unclean funeral cloth.

Purpose for BODY Wrapping. Distinctly, Jesus' body had been "bound in linen wrappings" ("wound" in KJV, John 19:40). The Greek word for John's “bound” is deo^G1210, "to bind"; this word literally meant to bind like with chains.^xii The word for “linen wrappings” is othonion^G3608: "strips of linen cloth for swathing the dead."^xiii Jesus' "chains" would then have been expensive linen bandages furnished by the rich noble Joseph. Spices were spread over the bandages in which the body was wrapped^xiv to reduce odors of decomposition; e.g., Lazarus was dead yet 4 days and he would have "stunk" (11:39). That would be for His body.

Purpose for HEAD Wrapping. On the other hand, Jesus' head was bound, "according to Jewish custom" (19:40), with a funeral cloth to keep the lower jaw together with the skull; it would have been done just as Lazarus' head had been so bound (John 11:44). It was not just a cloth laid over the face. The mouth is closed and the jaw was bound up (ISBE, compare John 11:44, “and his face was bound about with a napkin”: "about" (i.e., περιδέω^G4019, Thayer's:"to bind about; to tie over"). This was so that the lower jaw of the skull would not readily separate. Such a face cloth was considered special enough to be a part of one's dowry treasure.^xv

Towel Folded? Jesus' "napkin" was not exactly folded, like flat; in the original language it (entulisso) meant "rolled up" in, or "twisted", or "entwined" (20:7, RV, ASV, BBE,). Most of the translations have "rolled up" or "wrapped up by itself." "This might suggest that the head cloth was lying as it had been 'rolled' round His head, and put in a certain part of the tomb as an evidence, to those who looked into the tomb, of the fact of His resurrection without any disturbance of the wrappings either by friend or foe or when the change took place" (Vine's Expository Dictionary).

Could A Redundant Message Produce Faith? How would a message that Jesus was coming back produce belief in John? It could not mean that He intended on returning to that tomb. If it meant coming back from God's house, Jesus had already verbally promised that to all eleven apostles three nights prior during the Passover supper. He was going to the Father's house to prepare a place for them and then was coming back for them (14:1-4). Yet, when Jesus appeared to Mary, He explained that He had not yet ascended "to the Father's house" (John 20:17). If it was just a repetition of a message why would it now particularly produce belief in John?

THE BOOK'S PURPOSE: John's purpose for writing his book was to prove who Jesus is. He said he did this by recording His supernatural works (20:30, 31). There was so much evidence of Jesus' power that John could have written about but he said he selected what is sufficient for our "continued belief" in Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of God" sent from the Father (5:36) and thereby "might have eternal life through His name" (20:31).

John uses a special word "sign"^{^xvi}to describe the acts of Jesus that would produce belief. I counted at least 14 specific references by John to Jesus' signs producing belief.^xvii But John includes an additional deed that produced his own personal belief: the arrangement of Jesus' burial bandages. The arrangement of the bandages with its "face cloth" made Jesus' resurrection convincingly true to John.

Order and Calm. The Cambridge Bible says that the orderly arrangement refutes the story later disseminated by the Jews (Matthew 28:11-15).^xviii What John saw indicates the calm and orderly manner in which Jesus' body had left the tomb. It neither suggested a rush of flight, nor a violent removal and stealing of a body.^xix E.W. Bullington perceives that what convinced John was that the linen lay the same as they were when swathed round the body with its face cloth separate as it had been separate with the head of Jesus. "The Lord would have just passed out of them, not needing, as Lazarus (11:44) to be loosed" by the hands of man.^xx

JESUS NEEDED A COVERING TO BE MOVED. Jesus had been crucified so He was shamefully unclothed; He had no clothes on His body. Scripture says the soldiers "divided his garments but for the outer garments they cast lots" (Matthew 27:35; Luke 23:34). Soldiers by Roman law were given the right to confiscate the clothing of any convicted felon. But Joseph and Nicodemus saw to it that Jesus was decently covered with perfumed coverings of linen.

If the body had just been removed in order to mislead the population, it is sensible to assume that the coverings would have gone with it. Why would thieves, friendly or otherwise, take the time to untwine the bandages along with undoing the head cloth? And then place them in such an orderly fashion.

CONCLUSION. Jesus had arisen the third day; just like He promised His disciples; just like the authorities were afraid of. John saw the evidence and its sign for this in the placement of His grave clothes. Paul wrote, "For I gave to you first of all what was handed down to me, how Christ underwent death for our sins, as it says in the Writings; And he was put in the place of the dead; and on the third day he came back from the dead, as it says in the Writings" (1 Corinthians 15:3,4, BBE).

xv These "cloths" were treasured so that they are are found in papyrus marriage contracts as part of the dowry (second and third centuries AD., Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 223). Robertson's Word Pictures.

xvii: (1) Jesus began His signs in Cana of Galilee (2:11); (2) at Jerusalem many believed in Jesus because of His signs (2:23); (3) Nicodemus who buried Jesus had acknowledged that Jesus was from God because of His signs (3:2); (4) John witnessed the healing of an official's son in Capernaum (4:43-54); (5) he saw a paralytic be healed on at the pool of Bethesda (5:1-47); (6) he was there when five thousand were fed miraculously (6:10); (7) multitudes followed Jesus because they saw His signs (6:2). John witnessed these. (8) Because of Jesus' signs John heard men confess that Jesus was the OT promised Prophet (6:14); (9) John even saw Jesus walk on water (6:16-21); (10) many believed on Him because they said, "Will the Messiah do more signs than these?" (7:31); (11) John saw Jesus heal a man born blind (9:1-38); (12) one argument he heard among the people was that a sinner could not do the signs that Jesus did (9:16); (13) John saw Jesus raise a four day dead Lazarus (11:1-46). Finally, (14) John recorded that it was because of these irrefutable signs that the Sanhedrin Court felt threatened (11:47; 12:37) and so they had Him conveniently killed.