out of the ordinary | the garments

God frequently works through the ordinary. Through them he shares something of his love for us and reveals elements of his redemption plan. In this devotional series we look at some of the ordinary things Jesus would have encountered as he journeyed towards the cross. Holy Spirit, will you reveal something extraordinary through each of them. Amen.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John 20:1-2. NIV

John tells us about the clothes surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection, particularly focusing on the grave clothes. He tells us it was the arrangement of those clothes that caused him to believe, beyond all doubt, Jesus was risen. This is because the method used to prepare the body of Jesus for burial involved wrapping the linen cloths tight around the body like a cocoon. But when John saw them, they were lying uncut, undisturbed, lying precisely as they would have been had Jesus' body still been bound by them. But they formed an empty shell. This convinced John Jesus' body had been miraculously, supernaturally removed.

It occurs to me that when Jesus left the tomb he didn’t take anything with him he didn’t need. He left the grave clothes that had bound him. They were still moulded to his shape, but what they represented was now irrelevant to him.

We all face times when things change so significantly for us it feels a little like death. Follow Jesus’ model. Leave all the things associated with lack, loss, failure behind. Jesus’ resurrection power is at work in you and he says it is finished.

Let's pray
Thank you for the message in the grave clothes, Jesus. Thank you that your victory means I can leave behind everything that would bind me and prevent me from being all I am in you. Thank you that is is finished. Amen.