The Cloth

This is the thirteenth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Peter then saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. (John 20:6,7)

During Jesus' time, there was one way a carpenter let a contractor know a job was finished. A signature if you will. When the final piece of a job had been completed, the carpenter would typically fold a towel neatly in half and set it on the finished work and walk away. Whoever would arrive later to inspect the work would see the towel and understand its simple message:

The work is finished.

On the first Easter, Peter crouched in to look into an empty tomb. He saw only the linens that Jesus had left behind.

Imagine that a smile crossed Peter's face as sorrow was replaced by hope. He saw the wrap that had covered Jesus' face; it had been folded in half, and left neatly on the floor of the tomb. The carpenter had left behind a simple message.


Paraphrased from
The Carpenter's Cloth
by Sigmund Brouwer

Jesus has risen, He's alive forevermore!

He rose victorious from the grave!

Death has no power over him!

The last enemy to be conquered is death... and Jesus has conquered it for us!

And as I stood in front of this station, I felt a surge of power and victory inside of me. I am not a victim, cause I've got the Victor living in me!

This was such a powerful experience, going through the stations of the Cross at the Walkway.

This is the season of springtime, and God has broken through for me again.

Confirming His call upon my life: Speak life to the downhearted! Spread the Good News that Resurrection is real. Death has no power over us, Jesus our Redeemer has already died in our place.

Now all we have to do is to accept His finished and completed work on Calvary, and this includes accepting and believing in the power of His Resurrection!