Revelation 1: 9 – 16; 22: 3 - 4

In my Sr. year in college (Concordia U. Wisconsin) I was required to compose a final research paper of at least 20 pages in length. Man, that seemed like a lot to me. It was by far the biggest assignment I had ever had.

How many pages did I end up doing? 50!! No joke. I got so into researching my topic that I just couldn’t stop. I found so much great info on it, and had to include it all in my paper.

My topic? The Shroud of Turin. If you’re not familiar with it, the shroud is the supposed burial cloth of Jesus, that he was wrapped in when he was put in the tomb. When he was resurrected, it was left there and recovered by his followers.

So how do we figure that it’s Jesus’ cloth? On it is the imprint of a man who appears to have been crucified. The details remarkably resemble the wounds that Christ would have received in his crucifixion.

It’s fascinating! Could this really be it? Could this really be Jesus we see on the shroud? Even if it is authentic, does it prove some things about Jesus? Does it really matter? No.

So why is it so fascinating to Christians, and so loved by many? I think it is because we really want to see Jesus. And who doesn’t treasure a picture that they have of someone that they dearly love? We just would love to have a picture of Jesus. Unlike God, Jesus was a human, and capable of experiencing him with our sight.

But is the face on the shroud the view of Christ’s face that we would want to see? Bruised. Bloody. Dead. Reminding us of his suffering and death? Even so, the shroud also reminds us of Christ’s resurrection. The body that may have been in it is gone!

Is the shroud authentic? I don’t know. Most of me doubts it. Although I’d like to have a picture of Jesus now, I guess we’ll just have to wait until heaven to certainly see his face. Let’s look forward to that!

Thank God today for the smiling, laughing, frowning, crying, bloody, bruised, forgiving and glorious face of Jesus!
- Richard M.