He's Coming back - count on it!

Today during my lunch break I decided to go to Sonic and read my Bible for a while. I opened my Bible to Luke 24 because the other day I was curious about some particular details surrounding the resurrection of Christ. After reading it - I decided to read John's account of the story. As I was reading through John 20 where Peter was running to the tomb to see if the news he had gotten was indeed true, I came to verse 6-7:

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.

As soon as I read that verse I remembered something I heard just a few days ago. I can't remember where I was when I heard about this....but to make sure I got the story right, I did a little internet search when I got back to my office:

The Gospel of John 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. Is that important? You'd better believe it! 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!"

When I first heard this, I was curious to read the verse it was talking about but never took the time to look it up... and then I guess I just forgot about it. Then while I was in Batesville during LuLu's funeral I heard my Uncle talking about this very thing and immediately remembered hearing about it just a few days before.

Then, during my lunch break today....I stumble across the verse! It just fascinates me how every single word in the Bible is important - it’s ALL there for a reason. If I had not already heard the story of the folded napkin I probably would have just read right over John 20:7 thinking it had no real importance. But instead, it’s a GREAT promise! He is coming back!!!! The detail of God's Word is amazing!