Making your bed
is supposed to be
the sign of maturity.
Taking the time
to refluff the pillows
and fling the duvet out
so that it covers the bed
ready for tonight
is often seen as a chore
by teenagers,
and by those in a hurry.
But why?
If you live alone,
no-one else will see
an untidy bed,
so it won't matter.
You're just going to
get into it again
tonight.
Besides,
leaving it all rumpled
airs the bed a bit.
[PAUSE]
If you don't live on your own
or share a bed,
then making it
seems a courtesy.
It shows that
you want to keep things nice
for someone else.
It's an act that says
that we want
the other person
to feel at home,
to feel comfortable,
to feel that everything is in order,
to feel looked after.
Does Jesus make His bed?
[PAUSE]
Peter and John
are looking in the tomb.
They see the linen clothes
that Jesus was buried in
lying in the tomb.
The napkin that was
about His face,
is lying wrapped together
in a place by itself.
The Greek word
that is used for "lying"
is the same word
used when,
at Christmas,
we see the baby
lying in the manger.
The linen cloths
have not been tossed aside
they are lying
set in their places.
The napkin
is rolled up
and put aside.
Jesus has made His bed.
[PAUSE]
This is significant.
People stealing a body
would do so
as quickly as possible.
They would take the linen cloths
with the body,
or cast them aside
leaving them
where they fell.
They would not have time
to roll up a napkin.
They would not have time
to gently place the linen cloths
in the tomb.
Indeed,
if they were in a rush
the napkin would not
be in a place by itself.
No, the body was not stolen.
Jesus gets up,
makes His bed
and leaves.
[PAUSE]
But Our Lord
makes His bed
for a reason more
than an assurance
that He is truly risen.
We make our bed,
when there are others
that might sleep in it.
Jesus makes His bed
because we shall all
sleep where He slept
after His crucifixion.
We shall all sleep
when we face our own death.
It's that one terrible fact
that we must face.
It's that one terrible sadness
that we encounter
with our loved ones
as they pass from us.
Jesus makes His bed
knowing that we must sleep in it
at the end of our lives.
But He shows us
that we too will be making our beds
when we rise through Him.
By making His bed in the tomb,
Our Lord has shown
that Death is not for us.
Death for the Christian
is not a state of being,
it is an event,
just a thing that happens to us
and doesn't stop us
from being ourselves,
because God Himself
keeps us alive in Him.
At our Death,
we sleep until we are woken
by Eternity's sunrise.
And it will be Christ
who bids us rise with Him
into the glorious morning in the garden.
But let us make our bed first!