Supposing him to be the gardener - Deuteronomy 11 & John 20

St. Andrew's Brussels Sermons

The Gospel of John makes it clear that the place where Jesus was buried was a garden. The tomb was a new tomb in that garden. This location, and its implied imagery of luxuriant plant life and greenery, echoes the poetry of the Song of Solomon, where the lovers meet in a garden. So, John is setting the scene for what is going to be a remarkable event. Mary Magdalene doesn't grasp the significance of Jesus being buried in a garden. Kings were buried in a garden! Note that the word for such gardens of delight came from the Persian: “paradise”. So, Mary had stumbled into paradise, into Eden, even, the source of fruitful life, but she doesn't understand all that. Mary is in the presence of the Garden of God, without even realising it. How guilty are we, dear Reader, of not realising that we too are in God's Garden? Have we abdicated our responsibilities as custodians of the planet? In a way, Mary Magdalene was not wrong when “she supposed him to be the gardner”: Jesus *is* the Gardener. So, how much more shameful is it, then, when we neglect His Garden?