John 20:7
The cloth that had been around Jesus' head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths.
The cloth
The Greek word used here is "soudarion," which refers to a face cloth or napkin. In the context of Jewish burial customs, this cloth was used to cover the face of the deceased. Its mention here is significant, as it highlights the care and orderliness of the resurrection event. Unlike the hurried removal of a body, the presence of the cloth suggests a deliberate and miraculous act, emphasizing the divine nature of Jesus' resurrection.

that had been around Jesus’ head
This phrase underscores the personal and intimate nature of the resurrection. The cloth was specifically around Jesus' head, indicating that the resurrection was not a general event but a personal victory over death for Jesus Himself. It also serves as a testament to the physical reality of Jesus' resurrection, countering any claims that it was merely spiritual or metaphorical.

was rolled up
The Greek word "entylisso" means to wrap or roll up. The fact that the cloth was rolled up suggests intentionality and order. This detail refutes any notion of a grave robbery, as thieves would not take the time to neatly roll up a cloth. Instead, it points to the power and peace of the resurrection, where even in the midst of a miraculous event, there is a sense of calm and purpose.

lying separate
The separation of the head cloth from the linen cloths is a detail rich with meaning. It indicates that the resurrection was not chaotic but orderly. This separation can symbolize the distinction between Jesus' earthly life and His resurrected, glorified state. It also serves as a visual representation of the new covenant, where Jesus' resurrection separates the old from the new, bringing hope and salvation.

from the linen cloths
The linen cloths, or "othonia" in Greek, were used to wrap Jesus' body. Their mention here, along with the separate head cloth, provides a vivid picture of the empty tomb. The presence of these cloths, left behind, is a powerful testament to the reality of the resurrection. It signifies that Jesus' body was not stolen but transformed, leaving behind the trappings of death and emerging victorious over the grave.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
Central figure of the resurrection account, whose burial cloths are found in the tomb.

2. The Tomb
The place where Jesus was laid after His crucifixion and where the resurrection is discovered.

3. Peter and John
Disciples who run to the tomb to verify Mary Magdalene's report of the empty tomb.

4. Mary Magdalene
The first to discover the empty tomb and report it to the disciples.

5. The Burial Cloths
The linen cloths and the separate head cloth found in the tomb, signifying Jesus' resurrection.
Teaching Points
Significance of the Burial Cloths
The neatly folded head cloth signifies order and intentionality, contrasting with a grave robbery scenario.

Symbol of Victory Over Death
The empty tomb and the left-behind cloths symbolize Jesus' victory over death, affirming His divine nature and the promise of eternal life for believers.

Faith and Evidence
The physical evidence of the empty tomb and the burial cloths invites believers to a faith that is both spiritual and grounded in historical events.

Resurrection as a Foundation of Hope
The resurrection is central to Christian hope, assuring believers of their future resurrection and eternal life with Christ.

Call to Witness
Just as the disciples were witnesses to the resurrection, believers are called to share the message of the risen Christ with others.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the presence of the neatly folded head cloth in John 20:7 enhance our understanding of the resurrection event?

2. In what ways does the resurrection of Jesus, as evidenced by the empty tomb, impact your personal faith journey?

3. How can the contrast between Lazarus' grave clothes and Jesus' left-behind burial cloths deepen our understanding of the resurrection?

4. What are some practical ways you can share the message of the resurrection with others in your community?

5. How does the resurrection of Jesus provide hope and assurance in the face of life's challenges and uncertainties?
Connections to Other Scriptures
John 11:44
The raising of Lazarus, where he comes out of the tomb with his grave clothes still on, contrasts with Jesus' resurrection where His grave clothes are left behind.

Luke 24:12
Peter's visit to the tomb, where he sees the linen cloths by themselves, confirming the resurrection.

Matthew 28:6
The angel's announcement that Jesus is not in the tomb because He has risen, providing context to the empty tomb.

1 Corinthians 15:4
Paul's affirmation of Jesus' resurrection on the third day, aligning with the Gospel accounts.

Hebrews 12:2
Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith, whose resurrection is a cornerstone of Christian belief.
All Do not Reach Christ At One SpeedSamuel Rutherford.John 20:1-10
Christ RisenHistory, Prophecy, and GospelJohn 20:1-10
Comfort from Christ's CerementsDean Stanley.John 20:1-10
Different CharacteristicsTheophylact.John 20:1-10
Harmony of the NarrativesBp. Ryle.John 20:1-10
He is not Here: He is RisenT. Whitelaw, D. D.John 20:1-10
Hindrances RemovedM. Henry.John 20:1-10
Jesus RisenH. C. McCook, D. D.John 20:1-10
Lessons Taught by the Disposition of Christ's CerementsC. Stanford, D. D.John 20:1-10
Mary At the SepulchreWilliam H. Davis.John 20:1-10
Mary Magdalene's AlarmC. Stanford, D. D.John 20:1-10
OrderJ. R. Howat.John 20:1-10
Running DisciplesWilberforce Newton.John 20:1-10
Stooping and LookingMarlorate.John 20:1-10
Stooping and Looking InH. G. Trumbull, D. D.John 20:1-10
The Cerements of Christ and of LazarusI. Williams., Sir M. Hale.John 20:1-10
The Company At the SepulchreBp. Ryle.John 20:1-10
The Disciples At the SepulchreC. S. Robinson, D. D.John 20:1-10
The ResurrectionChristian Age., S. S. Times., S. S. TimesJohn 20:1-10
The Resurrection of ChristH. L. Nicholson, M. A.John 20:1-10
The SepulchreJ. Lightfoot, D. D.John 20:1-10
Two Pictures of LoveT. Morgan., S. S. Times., S. S. Times.John 20:1-10
People
Didymus, Jesus, Mary, Peter, Simon, Thomas
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Apart, Bands, Cloth, Clothes, Cloths, Distinct, Face, Face-cloth, Folded, Handkerchief, Itself, Linen, Lying, Napkin, Placed, Rolled, Round, Separate, Towel, Wrapped, Wrappings
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 20:7

     5258   cloth
     5288   dead, the

John 20:1-9

     2421   gospel, historical foundation

John 20:1-17

     2012   Christ, authority

John 20:3-8

     9050   tombs

John 20:5-7

     5392   linen

Library
May 20 Evening
Jesus saith unto her, Mary.--JOHN 20:16. Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name: Thou art mine.--The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name. And the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.--We have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 5. "He Breathed on Them" (John xx. 22).
"He breathed on them" (John xx. 22). The beautiful figure suggested by this passage is full of simple instruction. It is as easy to receive the Holy Ghost as it is to breathe. It almost seems as if the Lord had given them the very impression of breathing, and had said, "Now, this is the way to receive the Holy Ghost." It is not necessary for you to go to a smallpox hospital to have your lungs contaminated with impure air. It is enough for you to keep in your lungs the air you inhaled a minute ago
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 9. "Peace be unto You" (John xx. 19, 21).
"Peace be unto you" (John xx. 19, 21). This is the type of His first appearing to our hearts when He comes to bring us His peace and to teach us to trust Him and love Him. But there is a second peace which He has to give. Jesus said unto them again, "Peace be unto you." There is a "peace," and there is an "again peace." There is a peace with God, and there is "the peace of God that passeth understanding." It is the deeper peace that we need before we can serve Him or be used for His glory. While
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Thomas and Jesus
'And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus.'--JOHN xx. 26. There is nothing more remarkable about the narrative of the resurrection, taken as a whole, than the completeness with which our Lord's appearances met all varieties of temperament, condition, and spiritual standing. Mary, the lover; Peter, the penitent; the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, the thinkers; Thomas, the stiff unbeliever--the presence of the Christ is enough for them all; it
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Resurrection Morning
'The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Risen Lord's Charge and Gift
'Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto yon: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.'--JOHN xx. 21-23. The day of the Resurrection had been full of strange rumours, and of growing excitement. As evening fell, some of the disciples, at any rate, gathered together, probably in the upper
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Silence of Scripture
'And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.' --JOHN XX. 30, 31. It is evident that these words were originally the close of this Gospel, the following chapter being an appendix, subsequently added by the writer himself. In them we have the Evangelist's own acknowledgment of the incompleteness
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Lord is Risen Indeed
But now the Lord is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. A s, in the animal economy [As, in the function of physical bodies], the action of the heart and of the lungs, though very different, are equally necessary for the maintenance of life, and we cannot say that either of them is more essentially requisite than the other; so, in the system of divine revelation, there are some truths, the knowledge and belief of which, singly considered, are fundamentals with respect
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Supposing Him to be the Gardener
It is not an unnatural supposition, surely; for if we may truly sing "We are a garden walled around, Chosen and made peculiar ground," that enclosure needs a gardener. Are we not all the plants of his right hand planting? Do we not all need watering and tending by his constant and gracious care? He says, "I am the true vine: my Father is the husbandman," and that is one view of it; but we may also sing, "My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 29: 1883

The Evidence of Our Lord's Wounds
Among us at this day we have many persons who are like Thomas--dubious, demanding signs and tokens, suspicious, and ofttimes sad. I am not sure that there is not a slight touch of Thomas in most of us. There are times and seasons when the strong man fails, and when the firm believer has to pause a while, and say, "Is it so?" It may be that our meditation upon the text before us may be of service to those who are touched with the malady which afflicted Thomas. Notice, before we proceed to our subject
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888

Easter Day.
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. With this verse ends the portion of the scripture chosen for the gospel in this morning's service. It finishes the account of the visit of Peter and John to the sepulchre; and, therefore, the close of the extract at this point is sufficiently natural. Yet the effect of the quiet tone of these words, just following the account of the greatest event which earth has ever witnessed, is, I think, singularly impressive; the more so when we remember
Thomas Arnold—The Christian Life

Sermon for Thursday in Easter Week
How we ought to love God, and how Christ is a Master of the Eternal Good, wherefore we ought to love Him above all things; a Master of the Highest Truth, wherefore we ought to contemplate Him; and a Master of the Highest Perfectness, wherefore we ought to follow after Him without let or hindrance. John xx. 16.--"She turned herself and said unto Him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." WHEN our Lord had risen from the dead, Mary Magdalene desired with her whole heart to behold our blessed Lord; and
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Sermon for the First Sunday after Easter
(From the Gospel for the day) How we are to ascend by three stages to true peace and purity of heart. John xx. 19.--"Peace be to you." PEACE be with you," said our beloved Lord to His disciples after His resurrection. All men by nature desire rest and peace, and are ever striving after it in all their manifold actions, efforts, and labours; and yet to all eternity they will never attain to true peace, unless they seek it where alone it is to be found,--in God. What, then, are the means and ways to
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

The Eternal Manhood
(First Sunday after Easter.) John xx. 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. The eighth day after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared a second time to his disciples. On this day he strengthened St. Thomas's weak faith, by giving him proof, sensible proof, that he was indeed and really the very same person who had been crucified, wearing the very same human nature, the very same man's
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

The Higher Faith.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.--JOHN xx. 29. The aspiring child is often checked by the dull disciple who has learned his lessons so imperfectly that he has never got beyond his school-books. Full of fragmentary rules, he has perceived the principle of none of them. The child draws near to him with some outburst of unusual feeling, some scintillation of a lively hope, some wide-reaching imagination
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Thoughts Upon Self-Denyal.
THE most glorious Sight questionless that was ever to be seen upon the face of the Earth, was to see the Son of God here, to see the supreme Being and Governour of the World here; to see the Creator of all things conversing here with his own Creatures; to see God himself with the nature, and in the shape of Man; walking about upon the surface of the Earth, and discoursing with silly Mortals here; and that with so much Majesty and Humility mixed together, that every expression might seem a demonstration
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

Sixth Appearance of Jesus.
(Sunday, One Week After the Resurrection.) ^D John XX. 26-31; ^E I. Cor. XV. 5. ^d 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. ^f then he appeared to the twelve; ^d Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. [He came in the same manner and with the same salutation as formerly, giving Thomas a like opportunity for believing.] 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Revealed in his Names.
At least twenty-five different names are used in the Old and New Testaments in speaking of the Holy Spirit. There is the deepest significance in these names. By the careful study of them, we find a wonderful revelation of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. I. The Spirit. The simplest name by which the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible is that which stands at the head of this paragraph--"The Spirit." This name is also used as the basis of other names, so we begin our study with this.
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Scriptures in the New Testament. "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."--John xx. 31. Having considered the apostolate, we are now to discuss God's gift to the Church, viz. the New Testament Scripture. The apostolate placed a new power in the Church. Surely all power is in heaven; but it has pleased God to let this power descend in the Church by means of organs and instruments, chief
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Ambassadors for Christ
T. P. John xx. 21 "Who are these who come amongst us, Strangers to our speech and ways? Passing by our joys and treasures, Singing in the darkest days? Are they pilgrims journeying on From a land we have not known?" We are come from a far country, From a land beyond the sun; We are come from that geat glory Round our God's eternal throne: Thence we come, and thither go; Here no resting-place we know. Far within the depth of glory, In the Father's house above, We have learnt His wondrous secret,
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Whether Sacred Doctrine Proceeds by Argument
Whether Sacred Doctrine Proceeds by Argument We proceed to the eighth article thus: 1. It seems that sacred doctrine does not proceed by argument. For Ambrose says: "where faith is sought, eschew arguments" (De Fid. Cath.), and it is especially faith that is sought in this doctrine. As it is said in John 20:31: "these are written, that ye might believe." It follows that sacred doctrine does not proceed by argument. 2. Again, if sacred doctrine proceeded by argument, it would argue either on the ground
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

Whether God Always Loves Better Things the More
Whether God Always Loves Better Things the More We proceed to the fourth article thus: 1. It seems that God does not always love better things the more. It is obvious that Christ is better than the entire human race. Yet according to Rom. 8:32 God loved the human race more than he loved Christ. "He that spared not his only Son, but delivered him up for us all . . ." Thus God does not always love better things the more. 2. Again, an angel is better than a man, according to Ps. 8:5: "Thou hast made
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

It was but a Little that I Passed by them when I Found Him whom My Soul Loveth. I Held Him; Neither Will I Let Him Go Until I Bring Him into My Mother's House, and into the Chamber of Her that Conceived Me.
The soul having thus come forth from self and left all creatures behind, finds her Well-beloved, who manifests Himself to her with new charms; which causes her to believe that the blessed moment for the consummation of the divine marriage is at hand, and that she is about to enter into permanent union. She exclaims in a transport of joy, I have found Him whom my soul loveth, I embrace Him and will never let Him go. For she thinks she can retain Him, and that He only left her on account of some fault
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

The Resurrection.
"Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb. She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid Him. Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. And they ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II

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