Jesus’ Little Easter Sign
How much is 30 seconds worth? How about $5,000,000! Yes, that is a 5 with six 0’s behind it, or 5
million dollars. Translate that into an hourly wage and you end up with 36 billion dollars. You might be
skeptical that 30 seconds can be that valuable, but according to CBS, a 30 second commercial during this
year’s Super Bowl cost… you guessed it, $5,000,000.
But what do 30 seconds have to do with Easter? Read these Easter verses from John and see if you can
figure out where the 30 seconds come in:
John 20:1
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. 2 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!” 3 So Peter and the other
disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did
not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw
the strips of linen lying there. 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head.
The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had
reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
Did you catch it? It was right there in verse 7, “The cloth was folded up by itself…” How long do you
think it took Jesus to fold that burial cloth previously wrapped around his head? 10, 15, maybe 30
seconds. But what did those 30 seconds accomplish? What did it mean? It meant Jesus was alive!
Remember that already by this time on Easter morning the guards who had been at the tomb were
spreading the rumor that the disciples had come and stolen the body (at least that was the story they
were paid to tell… and they were sticking to it!). But what grave robbers – whether they were some of
the disciples or someone else – what grave robbers would take 30 seconds of their precious time to
delicately fold the cloth and set it aside. No, you would expect grave robbers either to do nothing with
the grave clothes or, if they did take them off, throw them hastily in a pile.
But this is Jesus’ little Easter sign to all who might enter his empty tomb. “I was NOT stolen, but I am
alive! And as a little sermon to your trembling hearts, I took 30 seconds to fold my head cloth. I want
you to see it and believe – Jesus is risen!”
So, let me ask you again, what is 30 seconds worth? It’s worth an eternity.