An expert on ancient Roman coins say he has identified those that cover the eyes of the Man of the Shroud, providing more evidence that the ancient burial cloth could have been used to cover the body of Jesus. Agostino Sferrazza, a numismatist, concludes in an interview with the French-language RCF Liège, the coins were minted in in the days of Pontius Pilate in the year A.D. 29.
Images of the coins were first observed in the eye sockets of the Man of the Shroud in 1976, when 3-D projection techniques were used to evaluate it. Researchers noted the presence of small bulges on the ocular orbit bones which wouldn’t match any possible morphological particularities. The hypothesis states these might have been leptons: small coins of low value that were common in Israel during the Roman occupation. READ MORE
According to John 20:7 Jesus was not covered with a shroud but grave clothes for his body and a handkerchief around his head – two separate pieces of cloth. The Jews in those distant times past were meticulous in their recording of history and events, of which many had great significance. I can’t remember where I found the description below but it describes one such event and how important it is to study and know God’s Word.
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?
The Gospel of John 20:7 tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.
The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’
Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.
The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.
Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m finished.”
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because…
The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back”.