Easter 5 - Jesus is coming again!

Of course we know He is coming again!

Acts 1:9-11 And when He had said this, even as they were looking at Him, He was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight. And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men dressed in white robes suddenly stood beside them, who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in just the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.

A Jewish tradition:

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? 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. The cloth being set apart implies that someone took the clothes off in an ordinary manner; furthermore, the Greek text uses the word, entetuligmenon, "having been folded up", seeming to imply some intentional action had been taken.

Luke 24:1-8 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 

Then they remembered His words.

When they talked to others about Jesus, they did not say, “We found an empty tomb,” instead they said, “He has risen!”

Is that important? Absolutely. We know that the Jews had very specific meanings to all their traditions. 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 was 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 servant knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet." 

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"