Happy Easter!
I don’t know whether you went to an Easter service today, but if you did, you may have come across a book referred to as ‘John’s gospel’. It is read in many churches over the Easter period and no doubt will be heard many times more today. The author tells us that he wrote his book “[so] that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. (John 20:20)
Now, if you were to give John a chance to tell his story to you (and I’d highly recommend you do), you would notice very quickly that John writes with a very clear aim. He only includes information that adds to his message – after all he states that there are things he left out to make it readable! (John 20:19)
Chapter 20 is the key moment in John’s book. It presents the familiar story of Jesus coming back from the dead. Something unexpected though seems to appear. John makes a big deal out some strips of the linen left in the tomb. For someone, as we’ve seen, who is trying to keep their story precise, surely that could have been omitted?
I’d like to show you that the linen is actually quite exciting. In fact, I want to show you that the gospel can be found in the linen. Intrigued? Well let’s get started…