The Gardener

The Lord God planted a garden
In the first white days of the world,
And He set there an angel warden
In a garment of white enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven
The hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of the even
God walked with the first of men

By the time you read this article it will be the middle of summer, but as I write this it is still – just – spring.  I love this time of year as it is full of promise and newness! It is lovely to witness each springtime, nature bursting out from the dark days of winter, into the brightness of the longer days of light.  Personally, I feel it is a time of year when one cannot help but feel prompted to give praise to Almighty God for the beauty of  His creation.!  And whatever the globalist ‘climate change’ brigade may say, please remember that; “While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (see Genesis 8 v 22).

I do not deny climate change – the climate is always changing – and has been doing so since the Earth was created!  But the ‘climate change’ lobbyists claim this is a new phenomenon and seek to tie us up in knots over everyday activities, and with their insane ‘remedies’ are quite frankly causing the earth to come to the brink of destruction, especially with their net zero carbon neutralising agendas.

Beware of the changing or re-wording of phrases and descriptions to suit this agenda.  For example, the recent calamity in Switzerland was caused by what was always called an avalanche – but – oh no! the melting glacier that caused the landslip, was a result, they say, of climate change!

But let’s get back to nature, and our gardens – which I believe are a mark of Israel – and our love of gardens – a sign of our descent from Adam. For Adam was a gardener! “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed….”  (Gen 2 v 8). “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it…”   (v 15)

There is a definite importance to the ‘garden’ and  the ‘gardener’.  When I was young, here in the UK there used to be a 5 minute children’s tv series called The Magic Roundabout’, and this roundabout was set in what was termed, ‘The garden’.  There were a variety of puppet characters, including Florence, Dougall the dog, Dylan the (hippy) rabbit, Ermintrude the cow, and Zebedee, who was on a spring and seemed to be in charge, always turning up when things went wrong, and when it was time for bed!  But I always used to ask myself, well, where is this garden supposed to be?

So Adam was first and foremost, a gardener.  And it was in the garden that the first sin occurred.  It concerned the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from which the Lord God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat fruit.  How the serpent came to be in the garden we are not specifically told, but he was known to the Lord and was in fact Satan – the devil – and – the tempter.

Thus it is interesting that Our Lord Jesus Christ has links with gardens, and a gardener!

When He was arrested it was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and when He first had risen from the dead after His crucifixion, he was in a garden and mistaken for the gardener. “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping; and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.  And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?  She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.  And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?  She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou have borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.  Jesus saith unto her, Mary …”

There are two very interesting points here, in this very touching episode. The first is that the sepulchre was in a garden.  I guess it is generally the norm, that a cemetery is in a garden like setting.  We live by a church that has quite a large cemetery, with lovely big old trees in and is a joy to walk around.  In Cornwall, on the Roseland peninsular there is a truly beautiful garden-like cemetery surrounding the church – this spot being connected with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea bringing his young charge, Jesus, with him.

Perhaps the garden cemeteries are symbolic of that first sin, so long ago, that brought death into the world?

The second is that it was Mary – a woman – who Jesus first revealed Himself to after his resurrection, and that it is recorded that Mary, not recognising Jesus – until He spoke – thought He was the gardener.  It was also a Mary who was used as a vessel through which Jesus the Son of God, was born into this world.  A Mary at His entry into the physical world, and another Mary as a witness of His resurrection.  It is also notable that Mary was asked twice; “Why weepest thou?”, and Jesus Himself asked her, “Whom seekest thou?”  But when He called her by her name – Mary – she knew it was Him.  (My sheep know My voice…).

Mary, could be here symbolic of the Bride of Christ – Israel. For when He returns His Bride will be made ready for Him.  And surely His people, Israel, once their eyes are open will indeed be seeking Him.

Adam was a gardener.  Jesus Christ is referred to as the Second Adam. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit… The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven… And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor 15:45-50 abridged).

Imagine how it may have been in the original, unspoilt Garden of Eden.  Think of the most beautiful garden you have ever visited, and I am sure it will be even more lovely.  Think of the cheery tuneful chirrups of the dawn chorus on a spring morning – and imagine it amplified.  Think of the bright colours of your favourite flowers, and the heavenly scent of your most treasured roses – and imagine them even brighter, and even more aromatic.  Imagine breathing in fresh air that invigorates and uplifts your spirit – this must have been something of the like which Eden was.  We lost it – but through Our Saviour Jesus Christ we will sample a new Eden!  And perhaps this is why we treasure our gardens so – because we are searching for that paradise which we lost so long ago – and with it the Lord who created it – and us – in the first place!

And I dream that these garden closes,
With their glades and their sun-flecked sod,
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth.

Poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858 – 1932).