Devotion #1: Signature Fold

Dr. Randy T. Johnson

When we were adding a deck to the back of our house, both of our dads and Angela’s brother came to help us. One of them was drilling a hole in a post he was holding when suddenly he exclaimed, “Oh, that is warm.” He then took off his work glove and realized his hand was bleeding. He had drilled into his hand. I quickly handed him a small towel.

The situation reminded me of a message I heard from John 20:6-7. The passage records, “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.” The preacher stated that when a carpenter was working on a project, he would have a towel nearby. It was his sweat towel. He would wipe sweat and dirt off his brow, remove dust from his project, and hold it on a bloody wound. When he would sell the item, he would have a signature fold of his sweat cloth that showed the sweat and blood that went into his project. The special folding of the towel meant that it is finished. Simon Peter would have known Jesus’ signature fold.

Jesus said, “It is finished,” while on the cross (John 19:30). He paid the price for our sin. However, He went an important step further. He conquered death, Hell, and the grave. He rose from the dead. He is alive and offers us eternal life. It is finished. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” The resurrection is so important.

Paul also states the promise that Jesus’ resurrection brings for us. In Romans 6:5, he says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” It is fair to say that only one who is alive can give us life.

This lines up perfectly with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”