Have you ever mistaken Jesus for someone less than who He really is? Mary did—standing at the empty tomb, blinded by grief, she thought the resurrected Lord was just a gardener. But here's the beautiful truth: He is the Gardener—the better Gardener who works in the dirt of our lives, transforms our worst into growth, and makes us alive in Him. Where the first Adam brought death, the second Adam brings resurrection.
John 20:1–3
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
John 20:11–18
But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, 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, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
John 20:15
She, supposing Him to be the gardener.
There are no idle words in Scripture. What may appear to us as a passing remark or an incidental detail often carries within it a deeper intention.
— Charles Spurgeon
Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
John 15:1
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
Hebrews 1:3
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…
Exact imprint = perfect representation.
John 14:9
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
When it comes to the gardening of our lives, none of us is a good gardener.
1 Corinthians 15:21–22
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
By nature, every single one of us is born into this world united with the first gardener.
Romans 5:12
Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Romans 5:19
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners.
Because we were all born in Adam, we must be reborn in Christ.
You are either in Adam, or you are in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Gardeners Work In The Dirt
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Genesis 3:19
…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Gardeners Also Work With Manure
Sometimes the nastiest stuff produces the greatest growth.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."
We Have All Sinned
Romans 3:23
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The Penalty For Sin Is Death
Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death.
Jesus Died For You
Romans 5:8
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
