To be clear, whether Jesus arose and the the grave clothes 'collapsed' as the body vanished out of them, or, He was brought back to life and got up and unwrapped Himself and folded the grave clothes in two neat piles would still allow the both sets of linen cloths to be 'lying' in their place. The answer to this question about John 20:7 depends on what we make of the verb ἐντυλίσσω = to wrap or fold up. Thus the details of the garments are not of hypothetical interest but of real significance.

I see, myself, the matter of Headship - the Head and the Body - and the significance of resurrection to a new humanity, under Headship. There is deliberate mention of the napkin being separate and John makes a point of recording it. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Is there anything in the Greek (I am using the KJV and the TR) to suggest what the article is implying ? I have always read John's account understanding that the linen cloth for the head was 'wrapped together' in a place by itself, meaning folded neatly and at some distance from the shroud.īut on reading again I notice that the linen clothes were 'lying'.

Today, I read an article that presumed the body of Jesus had instantly removed from the tomb leaving the garments as they had been worn, as if 'collapsing' as the body disappeared from their containment.

Jesus burial shroud