The Apostle Paul makes a stunning assertion in Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (NASB). Circle “all things.” “All things” covers any experience in life that you are or I will go through. Paul himself, in his life, had gone through amazing highs and lows – both prior to and after his conversion. So this confident statement of faith by the apostle was born not only through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but also from his faith conviction, and his life experience and knowledge of the resurrected Christ. The resurrected Jesus changed his life.
The same thing had happened to the Apostle John. For him the “all things” of Romans 8:28 came to include the burial cloths, the linen cloths, wrapped around Jesus’ body at His death. What should have brought the stinging reality of the proof that Jesus, His friend and Savior, was surely dead, became that which God used for good to give him hope and renewed faith. In his Gospel, he records the following: “After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury” (John 19:38-40 NKJV).
John did not know what we know: that Good Friday was not the end; that an incredible event was going to take place on that Sunday. He would later write of himself and the other disciples: “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead” (John 20:9 NKJV). But God nevertheless took the reality, one of the proofs, of Jesus’ death, and made it work “for good” for John. Remember what happened on the Sunday following: “Then she (Mary) ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed” (John 20:2-8 NKJV).
Mary thought that Jesus’ enemies had taken His body. (The authorities would spread the rumor that Jesus’ disciples had taken His body.) Peter and John run to the now open tomb to check her story out. What did they see? First John, and then Peter, “saw the linen cloths lying there.” And then they also saw “the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.” It is made rather clear that none of these burial cloths were just ripped off. They were not quickly thrown to the ground (which is what I still do with my clothes even when I’m not in a rush). NO! Basically they were “rolled up neatly.” They were folded and neat!
Who would take the time to do that? If, as the authorities would later spread, Jesus’ friends and disciples had done this, wouldn’t they have in their fright and hurry just grabbed His body along with the burial cloths and skid addled out of there? If Jesus’ enemies were the guilty ones, wouldn’t they have done the same? If either one – friends or foes of Jesus – had taken His body, and had taken the time to remove the burial cloths and the handkerchief that had been around His head, would they have taken the time to fold or neatly roll them up? NOT!
But if neither friend nor foe took Jesus’ body, who did? “This was John’s question, and this question led to John’s discovery. “He saw and believed” (John 20:8). Through the rags of death, John saw the power of life. Odd, don’t you think, that God would use something as sad as a burial wrap to change a life.” (Lucado, Max. He Chose The Nails. Thomas Nelson Inc, 2012.)
God took what was bad, the burial cloths, the undeniable evidence of Jesus’ death, and worked it out for the good. For John, under God’s watchful eye and grace, the very signs of death – the burial cloths – became the very signs of life.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
John, Peter, Paul, the list goes on forever, would be forever changed by the resurrected Christ. They would always remember that God could even take burial cloths – the seeming evidence of the worst – and use them for good.
The same thing can happen for you. “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” If God could change John’s life through the worst for the best, can He not do the same in your life as well? There is no sin He cannot remove, no pain He cannot diminish, no problem He cannot solve, no relationship He cannot heal … nothing that He cannot take and make it work “for good to those who love God.”
“Burial cloths.” Do you have any in your life? What are they – the seemingly horrible things – that God could take and use for good. What do you need to come to the open tomb of Christ for … for a change? It may seem like Friday, but Sunday’s coming. As hard as it may be to believe, you could be only a Saturday away from a resurrection. Jesus has taken on the greatest enemies – the devil and death – and proved He was victorious! Now He shares that victory over sin, Satan, and death with you, with me, with all who believe. So great is His love for ALL!
Don’t you love that?! Don’t you love Him?! “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Why not come to the open tomb … for a change?
Loving the Resurrected Jesus,
Pastor David Maier
