The Controversy over Jesus Folding the ‘Napkin’
Khen Lim
Image source: but-thatsjustme.com
John’s account
The Gospel of John in 20:7 throws up remarkable detail about
the napkin that was originally placed over the face of Jesus. What John tells
us here was not only that it wasn’t thoughtlessly cast aside as it seemed the
case with His grave clothes. In the Gospel, a whole verse is dedicated to describing
the manner in which the napkin was meticulously folded and set aside from the
grave clothes:
“Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both
running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He
stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings 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 apart from the other wrappings.” (Jn 20:3-7, NLT)
How it is that John’s details are so immaculate in description
when the other three Gospels aren’t so is unclear. We may not have a real
understanding behind his motive but at the same time, it might be presumptuous
on our part to attach any symbolic meaning to his description.
