Back to the Garden
One of my favorite stories from the gospels is found in the twentieth chapter of John. Mary Magdalene is standing outside the empty tomb of Jesus. She’s weeping. Suddenly, she senses another presence. She turns to see who she believes is the gardener. And in a very real sense, it is.
Let me explain.
John’s gospel is filled with signs, images, and pictures that point beyond themselves to some of the Bible’s greatest truths. And Jesus appearing as the gardener is one of the most significant.
Think about it. Jesus was laid in a garden tomb. That’s where it all started, in a garden. Now, the one Paul refers to as the “last Adam” is seen by Mary as the gardener.
Consider these words from I Corinthians 15:22 - “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Again, in I Corinthians 15:45, we read, “So it is written, ‘The first Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit.
When our Lord Jesus Christ came forth from that tomb in the garden, he emerged through what the author of Hebrews calls “the power of an indestructible life.” (Hebrews 7:16) And now that indestructible kind of life lives in you and me through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus.
We are, all of us, on our way back to the garden. And the last Adam, our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Messiah/Anointed/King, is leading the way.
That’s the message of Easter. And it is a message for all who long to return to the garden, to the way it was before sin entered and corrupted our world.
Until that time, and on the way, you and I are to plant seeds and harvest the fruit of our labors, knowing that our future garden will be a beautiful and glorious place indeed.
In Christ,
Dan
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