BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GRAVE CLOTHES?

This Sunday morning, I'll be speaking about the significance of Jesus' grave clothes--the strips of linen, cemented by the myrrh, perfumed by the spices. Often it's the little details that go overlooked but are of great importance.

When Jesus arose that Sunday, he left his grave clothes behind. Being held together by the myrrh, the strips of linen kept the form of Jesus' body while the napkin for the head was folded and separate from the "cocoon."

Why is this important? First, it refutes the theories offered by skeptics that state Jesus didn't rise from death. "His body was stolen!" (But why leave the grave clothes?) "Jesus swooned and revived in the coolness of the tomb!" (How could he wriggle out of the wrappings and leave the shape intact?) "The disciples had hallucinations!" (But where did the body go?)

Second, it formed a basis for belief in the resurrection. Where Peter was perplexed by what he saw (Luke 24:12), John "saw and believed" (John 20:8). Though they didn't understand from Scripture (and evidently didn't remember Jesus speaking about it either), the grave clothes spoke truth to them. Only the resurrection explains the absence of the body and the presence of the grave clothes.