People, stick with the Word! John 20:7 says, "And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the grave clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." Note plurality of linen clothes mentioned in Luke 24:12.
My thoughts: The shroud info site mentions the cloth being about 14 ft by 3 ft something (didn't write it down). From the holy scriptures we are being told of there being 2 or more pieces. The "napkin, that was about his head" was a separate piece. The other piece(s) wrapped about his body would not have shown signs of being wrapped around his head, and vice-versa.
Believe the Word, anything else is less than perfect.
The perfect Word is a Person-- not a book.
>> My thoughts: The shroud info site mentions the cloth being about 14 ft by 3 ft something (didn't write it down). From the holy scriptures we are being told of there being 2 or more pieces. The "napkin, that was about his head" was a separate piece. The other piece(s) wrapped about his body would not have shown signs of being wrapped around his head, and vice-versa. <<
Actually, the shroud aligns perfectly with scripture. The Sudarium is the headpiece to the burian cloths. It is presently in Ovieto, Spain, and is discussed elsewhere on this thread. The image of the head is very readily reconcilable to the image on the Sudarium, and the blood tests indicate that the blood likely comes from the same person.
According to the custom, the body would be lain on the lower part of the shroud. The upper part would be folded over, back on to the body, and the head would be wrapped in a second cloth. This is precisely what is found among the shroud and the Sudarium.
John 20:1-9Re-read this carefully noting the highlighted sections.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. 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!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
First, remember that Jesus' disciples at this time were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead.
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and, seeing that the tomb is empty, reasonably concludes that "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
Next, Peter and John run to the tomb. John stops at the entrance and notices the "strips of linen" at the entrance to the tomb: "He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in." No reaction of John's is noted.
Next, Peter goes into the tomb and notices another cloth: "Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen."
We see that only the burial cloth was in the tomb.
Finally, John enters the tomb. "Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed."
He saw and believed. What did he see? And why did it cause him to believe? The only thing in the tomb, according to Scripture, was the burial cloth. Would the existence of the burial cloth cause John "to believe"? If so, why didn't John "believe" before entering the cave, when he saw the strips of linen? Perhaps there was something distinctive and miraculous about the burial cloth that was in the tomb.
The burial cloth was most likely a size comparable to the Shroud. Jesus was a Jew, and the Jewish burial custom of the time was to lay the corpse onto a piece of cloth which was then folded over the body.
Now, consider this passage again:
"the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen."
Why would the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' body be described as "the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head"? The clue is in the following line. "The cloth was folded up by itself." Perhaps only Jesus' facial image was visible on the folded burial cloth.