Jesus the Gardener

I’ve been sitting with John 20:11-18 recently (the story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus on Resurrection Sunday) and with Kelly Latimore’s icon of the scene. I was particularly and surprisingly struck by Jesus in this image, kneeling, trowel at hand, tending to some seedling plants.  I had always thought that Mary had mistaken Jesus for “the gardener” because of the early morning mist, her grief-blurred vision and Jesus perhaps caught in the corner of her eye.  Who, other than a gardener, would be there in that early morning hour?  An understandable mistake as she tried to make sense of her senses.  I had never supposed that Jesus, as his first act on returning from the dead, would actually be the gardener tending to the garden—the creator and sustainer of the universe, caught in the act of recreating and sustaining his beloved creation. 

My wife and I recently returned from a four-week Australian trip.  On my return home, the first thing I attended to once the bags were brought in from the car, was to start up the lawn mower, to tackle and trim the foot-high grass.  This, before notifying my friends that I had returned.  There was something deeply satisfying about bringing some order from the chaos.  Yesterday as I prepped the soil in the vegetable garden and planted my eight tomato plants, there was something joyful and hopeful in that act.  How wonderful that Jesus may have felt the same way!

Jesus’ impulse and inclination seem so much like mine, a wonderfully  human impulse—to nurture, tend, and bring order in his physical space—right where he found himself, even before attending to his friends.  There is something refreshing about imagining Jesus in this scene, literally as the gardener, unhurried, puttering around in the cool of the day, restoring his soul and surroundings as he communes with his Father, bringing life and order, preparing for his next act.  This scene speaks to me of our Creator’s care for all of his creation and of the hope of the renewal of all things, made possible on that Resurrection Sunday. 

The rest of Jesus’ day and the following weeks were a continuation of his gardening impulse as he tends to and cares for,  and sometimes prunes his friends—Mary in the garden, the Emmaus-bound duo, Thomas and the other disciples, a group of 500 plus, and Peter on a beach over a grilled-fish breakfast. 

Jesus, the Master Gardener.