For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (KJV)
Green Fingers’ is the term given to anyone with a natural ability in growing plants. I’m sure we all appreciate a picturesque garden whether it is in our own back yard or in a communal area. I have been blessed by always finding myself situated in close proximity to a garden. At university I was next door to the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, a beautiful Victorian heritage hosting an extensive rose garden and Palm House Conservatory. While living in County Kildare, the world-famous Japanese Gardens were near-at-hand. The vibrant colours of the Japanese maples interspersed with plants which evoked the exotic. Now I’m back north, and convenient to the Antrim Castle Gardens where many blossoms perfume the air. Many towns and villages around here compete annually in an Ulster in Bloom competition, seeing reward for their horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation.
The Bible features gardens of even more importance. Man was created in the beginning and placed in a garden: the Garden of Eden.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Genesis 2:8 (GNB)
God created man to have a relationship and walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. The name “Eden” means ‘pleasantness’, and since everything the Lord had made was “very good”, the Garden of Eden must have been a delightful place. However, we associate this garden with sin as man’s relationship with God was broken there. No longer would Adam and Eve enjoy a flawless environment. The story of this first garden is a story that reminds us that even though we can see glimpses of God’s beauty and presence in creation today, it is also a world that is filled with sin and brokenness.
There is another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, which we associate with suffering as Jesus agonised in prayer prior to Calvary. We read in Matthew:
… [He] began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Matthew 26:37 (KJV)
The word Gethsemane means ‘place of the olive press’ and that perfectly describes those crushing hours of Christ’s suffering on our behalf.
… in anguish, he prayed … and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44 (NIV)
Three times Jesus prayed that if it were possible, the cup of suffering would be taken from Him, but that the will of the Father would nevertheless be done.
There is also the Garden of Golgotha of which John writes:
Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. John 19:41 (ESV)
This was the garden where Jesus was laid in a tomb. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, at least five women set out with spices to visit the tomb in which Jesus had been buried.
When they arrived, they discovered that the massive stone had been rolled away from the opening of the tomb and that the body was no longer in the tomb. Jesus asked Mary why she was weeping. And notice what the Gospel writer, John, says next. His detail is very important.
Supposing him to be the gardener… John 20:15 (ESV)
Mary thought that Jesus was a gardener because, after all, this was a garden tomb. In a way, Mary was right. Jesus is a gardener, because it would be by his death and resurrection that the thorns and the thistles of God’s good creation would finally be removed forever.
The first Adam sinned in a garden; the last Adam took this sin upon Himself. In one garden Adam took a fall. In another Jesus took a stand. He suffered and died to take away “the sin of the world” and restore our broken relationship with God. Let’s learn from these gardens, appreciating the lessons from each.