4/9/23 The Two Gardens
The Two Gardens
John 19:38 - 20:18
Growing up, one of my favorite childhood memories was that of working in my grandmother’s garden.
She and my grandpa had a farm on “Hoot Owl Valley Road” (Can’t get much more country than that, right?)
Back in the day, much of their front yard was devoted to a relatively large garden – it was about 50’ wide and around 100’ long.
My mom and my grandmother would spend countless hours planting, watering, cultivating, and harvesting many varieties of flowers and fresh produce.
As a young boy, my job was to hoe the garden. A couple days a week I would grab my old hoe and make my way to the garden to claim victory over weeds that had risen up to challenge my cultivating skills.
Being the official “Hoe-Man” was something I enjoyed doing. I remember feeling a sense of calm while in the garden. There was something therapeutic about having new life all around me – and also something therapeutic about ending the life of evil weeds that were trying to choke out the good plants.
How many of you here this morning currently have a garden, or you have spent time in a garden at some point in your life?.....(Almost all of us, right?...I’m sure you can all relate to what I’m talking about)
Gardens can make an impact upon our lives in ways we don’t even see coming.
25 years ago, when Lisa and I were on our honeymoon in Washington state, we decided to ride a ferry up to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. We didn’t really have any plans for the day so, on a whim, we hopped on a bus just to see where it might take us – young people do crazy stuff like that, right?
One of the stops on the route was at a place called The Butchart Gardens – Has anyone here ever heard it?
I can honestly say (And I think Lisa would agree) that this garden is the most beautiful place we’ve ever been.
The sight and aroma of beautiful plants and flowers all around us in a meticulously well-kept environment, with the gentle sound of fountains and bubbling brooks off in the distance was a heavenly feast for the senses.
It’s an experience that I vividly remember – even a quarter of a century later!!
As we read the gospels, I think it’s safe to say that Jesus appreciated gardens as well. We often see Jesus seek out places of beauty, such as the Garden of Gethsemane for instance, to pray and find refreshment for his soul.
Not only did Jesus spend time in gardens while alive in the flesh, but Jesus was also buried in a garden.
In John 19:41 (In our passage for today) a wealthy man named Joseph of Arimathea, along with the Pharisee Nicodemus, obtain permission to take Jesus’ body to a brand-new tomb that was situated in a garden near the place where Jesus had just been crucified. Many simply refer to this garden as the “Garden Tomb.”
The Garden Tomb must have been relatively large as we see In John 20:15, Mary Magdalene mistakes the risen Jesus for “the Gardener”, allowing us to make the assumption that at least one full-time person was needed to tend it.
This morning, I’d like to spend a few minutes comparing some significant events that took place in two very important gardens – the Garden Tomb that we find here in the gospel of John, and the Garden of Eden that we find in the beginning of the book of Genesis.
You might be thinking to yourself “What does the Garden of Eden have to do with the Garden Tomb?”
Surprisingly, they are connected…not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense.
Some very significant spiritual events took place in each of these gardens – this morning we are going to take a look at these events, and how they are connected.
Like me, have you ever been sitting at a computer and with a simple stroke of a key, you mistakenly wiped out a portion (Or ALL ) of whatever you were working on?
Much of our computer work today automatically saves to the cloud (I’m still trying to figure out where the cloud actually is) so it’s a little harder to accidently delete things these days.
But back in college we didn’t have automatic cloud storage, so we had to manually save our work. I remember having to write a 10-page report for one of my classes and Somewhere around page 7 or 8, I took a quick snack break. As I was about halfway done with my Little Debbie Star Crunch, the lights in my room flickered – we had lost power for a split second.
I didn’t think anything of it until I returned to my computer and saw a completely black screen – It had turned off…..and I had not remembered to save my work.
Consequently, I had lost all of my work that I had done to that point. I felt sick. I think I threw the Little Debbie Star Crunch in the trash.
I wanted nothing more than to turn back time to before the power outage so I could have simply clicked “Save” on the file. It would have been that simple.
Like me, do any of you have any events from your life that you’d like to re-do?
In golf, they call it a mulligan…An informal rule that allows a player to replay a stroke that somehow went awry.
I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of decisions that I’ve made over my 51 years on this Earth that I’d like to have back – to reverse them somehow.
The connection between the Garden Tomb and the Garden of Eden has to do with a reversal….a spiritual reversal.
The story of man’s original sin in Genesis chapter 3 is a story of something that went wrong in the Garden of Eden. Something got wrecked In this garden – and it is a wreck that you & I have then repeated in all of our lives.
Our passage for this morning focuses on Mary Magdalene - she was undoubtedly wishing that she could reverse the course of time so Jesus would still be alive. She is heartbroken as she goes to the tomb of the rabbi whom she adored in order to pay her respects.
Things go from bad to worse (Or so Mary thought) when she sees that the stone had been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb and his body was nowhere to be found.
Mary runs to tell Peter and John of this disturbing news. The two apostles race to the tomb where they confirm Mary’s story. The men head back to town but Mary stays behind, heartbroken, crying, distraught.
Mary takes another glance into the dark, foreboding room where the body of her teacher should have been.
…And this is the moment when Mary’s day changes for the better -much better. What she sees inside the tomb this time will change her life forever.
John 20 verse 12 tells us that two angels in white – two messengers from God – are sitting on the table where Jesus had been placed.
The angels speak to Mary and they ask her why she is crying.
In verse 13 Mary responds: “They have taken my Lord away…and I don’t know where they have put him.”
Then someone else suddenly comes upon the scene and asks Mary why she is crying, to which she responds (Thinking he is the gardener) wishing to know where Jesus’ body might have been taken.
Verse 16 is one of the most encouraging and inspiring passages in all of scripture. Just the sound of her name “Mary” rolling off of the stranger’s lips opens her eyes to the truth of his identity - It was Jesus!....He was ALIVE !!!
There’s a scene in one of my favorite movies called “The Count of Monte Christo” in which a man who was wrongly sent to prison (and is presumed to be dead) escapes after many years and finally appears before his former fiance’
She does not completely recognize him until he says something to her that only the man she once intended to marry could possibly know.
At that point, she knew for sure that it was her long-lost fiance’ - even though he looked quite different after the many years they had been apart.
In a similar way, Mary is unsure about the identity of this stranger until he says her name – a piece of information that only someone close to her would know.
Her teacher, Jesus, had risen from the dead – he was alive and standing right in front of her!
Jesus had reversed the horrible, gut-wrenching story that had been mercilessly unraveling since late Thursday night when he had been betrayed by Judas Iscariot, taken into custody, wrongfully accused of sedition against Rome, sentenced to die by crucifixion, murdered on a cross, and buried in a tomb.
Even though these events had all occurred, the fact that Jesus was now alive meant that he had defeated death itself – and completely changed the narrative.
This is where the Garden of Eden comes into play.
If you recall, Adam & Eve were responsible for bringing death to all men through their sinful act of disobedience.
This act of sin would mean that all people to come after them would be born in a depraved condition subject to physical and spiritual death – unless a perfect sacrifice could atone for man’s sin to a degree in which our sinfulness could somehow be neutralized. To a degree that God, in His holiness and righteousness, would be able to look upon us and not see our sin.
This, in fact, was accomplished at the sight of the empty tomb.
The fact that Jesus had risen from the dead meant that the Father had accepted Jesus’ sacrificial act – and by extension – He accepts those who place their faith in Jesus - His death, burial, and resurrection.
The acts of disobedience from Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden had brought death to man, while the events of obedience by the Son who was now alive in the Garden Tomb, brings the opportunity for spiritual life to all mankind.
This is referred to as the atonement. Paul defines it in Romans 5:18-19 “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
One garden that was originally designed for life - brought forth death, while one garden that was originally designed for death - brought forth life.
Another spiritual reversal brought forth in the Garden Tomb is one of alienation with God and each other.
After Adam & Eve had sinned in the garden of Eden, they realized they were naked and they started to hide from God and each other.
Genesis 3:7-8 states: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
Community between God and man had been broken.
When God called out their names “Adam”…”Eve” – they shrink back, they don’t want to see Him.
Something completely different happens in the Garden Tomb.
Jesus calls Mary by name and she responds by wanting to cling on to him. She is not shrinking back and hiding in the trees. Rather, she is wanting to embrace him.
In John 20:17 Jesus tells Mary to go tell the disciples (Who he calls his ‘brothers’) that he is alive – these disciples who were hiding in a room somewhere, not unlike Adam & Eve hiding amongst the trees in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus refers to his followers (You and Me) as brothers and sisters!
We have been adopted into His family!
Our alienation between God and each other has been reversed because of the resurrection that occurred in the Garden Tomb.
Jesus also reverses the story of condemnation.
Scripture says that the only people that God will receive unto Himself are those who are righteous. As descendants of Adam, we were all born under the condemnation of sin – and with it – a sentence of death.
On that early Sunday morning before dawn, the roll was called up yonder and there was only one name on that roll. Only one human being was able to walk away from condemnation, walk away from the rule of death, and walk into the presence of the Father.
In order for us to also walk into the presence of the Father, we need to be in Christ – no other route will work.
In John 14:6, Jesus says “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The Father will accept us (even though we are tainted by sin) if He views us through the shed blood of His Son.
God’s Righteousness demands that He require death as the penalty for sin.
The first half of Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Our sin deserves death – and the only reason why people don’t physically die when we sin is because of God’s mercy and patience. All sin ends in death.
That is the story of the garden of Eden.
But the story of the Garden Tomb is the story of how Jesus took on the penalty for our sins by dying in our place on the cross. He took the penalty that should have been ours, and he brought it upon himself so those who place their faith & trust in Him will never have to experience spiritual death.
This is why the second half of Romans 6:23 says”…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
THAT, my Friends, is the good news of Easter!!!
In conclusion,
Which garden are you living in this morning?
Are you in the garden with a disobedient Adam & Eve? Are you hiding from God behind the things of this world? Are you purposefully keeping your calendar full of things to do in order to avoid the thought of what will happen to you when you die? Are you numbing the discomfort of life through the self-indulgence of drugs, alcohol, pornography, materialism?
Are you hiding from God by living a non-stop virtual life with virtual “friends” through the medium of social media?
Are you hiding from God in the garden of sin, behind the trees and leaves of bitterness, jealousy, anger, and hatred.
Maybe you are hiding from God through prideful arrogance or disingenuous humility and benevolence.
Are you hiding from God behind the shrubs of idolatry? – maybe politics or nationalism has become so important to you that it has eclipsed your love for the savior.
There are so many trees in which to hide behind in this garden of sin – and if this describes you, you are not alone.
In fact, much of the world is in this garden with you.
But the good news?
You don’t have to stay in that garden anymore!
Jesus is calling you to a better garden – a garden that was meant for death but now bursts forth with life!
You can leave that garden of sin behind with all of its weeds of depression and anxiety – and walk into a new garden, a better garden - A garden of peace, joy, and contentment.
If you haven’t done so already, come to Jesus today.
What an incredible opportunity you have today, on Easter Morning, to make Jesus the Lord of your life!
What an incredible opportunity you have to begin living a new life of faith and peace with God – and then one day pass from this life into life everlasting.
Let’s Pray