God of the Garden
Photo of The Garden Tomb, from IsraelRevealed.com, https://www.israelrevealed.com/garden-tomb-israel-mormon.../.
Why does the Apostle John want us to know that Mary assumed Jesus was a Gardner at the resurrection in his gospel account?
God created all things good and set humanity in Eden, a garden paradise. When humanity sinned at Adam and Eve’s rebellion, it happened in a garden, and humanity fell, and the Garden of Eden fell. When Jesus defeated sin and death on a cross, and from the grave on the third day, he resurrected from a garden tomb, and humanity was resurrected from that garden, and now the garden will be resurrected with us in the last day.
John’s resurrection account tells us Mary was inquiring of two angels in the tomb about the whereabouts of Jesus’ body. “[Mary] turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).” (John 20:13-16, ESV).
Mary supposed Jesus was a gardener, because Jesus is THE Gardener. God cultivated the world and life in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus cultivated resurrection life, redemption, and restoration from the garden tomb. Jesus looks like a gardener, because he is The Gardener.
If Jesus can cultivate all of creation in the garden of life, The Garden of Eden, from absolutely nothing, and if Jesus can cultivate recreation of the broken and fallen from the garden of death, the garden tomb, then Jesus can cultivate resurrection life in the garden of our lives as we trust the God of the garden.
May we put our faith and trust in the God of the Garden.
A Collect for Easter Day: “Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may, by your life-giving Spirit, be delivered from sin and raised from death; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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Photo of The Garden Tomb, from IsraelRevealed.com, https://www.israelrevealed.com/garden-tomb-israel-mormon.../.
