'And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes,
but wrapped together in a place by itself '
John 20:7
Why 'wrapped together in a place by itself '?
Because Jesus wished to show that He arose calmly: no haste, no hurry, not as if in flight from the tomb, but in solemn triumph and at leisure. So He wishes His people to be calm. 'He that believeth shall not make haste.' Yes, and see! He folded the napkin neatly and laid it by.
But far more. That napkin had been put there by Joseph and Nicodemus. Christ very likely was as beautiful as Moses, but His face had been marred by suffering. After His death the beauty all returned, and that was why they did not cover His face with a napkin, as John 11: 44. Seeing the bleeding wounds caused by the crown of thorns, they carefully and tenderly drew the napkin round His brow. When Jesus awoke on the third day He noticed this act of kindness, and folded up the napkin and laid it in a place by itself, as indeed precious to Him, because it told the tenderness of their care for Him. They will hear more about this napkin when He returns.
Thus He cares for the smallest acts of kindness we do for Him and to Him; how much more for what we do under difficulties and in suffering, and not least, for our efforts to win souls.
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Andrew Bonar (1810 - 1892)
He was a well-known pastor in Scotland with the Free Church. His brother Horatius was another well-known minister who was contemporary with Robert Murray Mchyene and others in those days. They saw a move of revival in their churches where the Spirit brought many immediate conversations in a short period of time.He is best known for his work on compiling the life of the prophet of Dundee: Robert Murray Mchyene: "Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne." One cannot read this volume and feel the sobriety of eternity and the fear of the Lord. He also wrote a wonderful volume on Leviticus.
Andrew Alexander Bonar was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and the youngest brother of Horatius Bonar.
He studied at Edinburgh; was minister at Collace, Perthshire, 1838 - 1856 (both in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church); and of Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow, 1856 till his death.
He was identified with evangelical and revival movements and adhered to the doctrine of premillennialism. With Robert Murray McCheyne he visited Palestine in 1839 to inquire into the condition of the Jews there. During the visit of Dwight L. Moody to Britain in 1874 and 1875, Moody was warmly welcomed by Bonar, despite the latter receiving considerable criticism from other Calvinist ministers in the Free Church.
Andrew Bonar preached from the whole Bible, the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. When one of his friends remarked on his originality in finding subjects for preaching, and wondered where he got all his texts, he just lifted up his Bible. He did not ignore any part of it, but explained it all. He did not shy away from any passages that might be seen as unpopular or unpleasant. Even the first chapters of Chronicles became 'God calling the roll of mankind.' He made it come alive as a history of men and women, living in their time, as we live in ours, accountable to God.
Christ and Him crucified was at the centre of all his preaching, in all parts of the Bible. He declared 'the whole counsel of God', and was deeply aware of his responsibility as a man of God. He spent hours every day in prayer and meditation of the Scriptures, and asking for the Holy Spirit to show the truth to him, so that he might pass it on to his flock. He wrote in a letter: "Persevering prayerfulness is harder for the flesh than preaching."
Above all, he was aware that his personal holiness would be of crucial importance to his preaching, as his remark shows: "Sins of teachers are teachers of sins."