Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; John 20:1-18
Bishop Ariel P. Santos
In John's account of the Resurrection, the setting was in a garden, which is why John said that Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus for a gardener. Mary Magdalene was the first to see the Risen Lord in this garden which was the property of Joseph of Arimathea. A garden is a place to cultivate, and it is a source of sustenance and of beauty. Did she really make a mistake in supposing that Jesus was a gardener? Maybe not!
When Adam was called to rule and reign, God placed him in the Garden of Eden. He was told to cultivate and to keep it. He was to cultivate goodness in creation, not to exploit it. He was tempted through his wife and sinned and he failed to continue to fulfill the mandate given to him. Sin entered into the world and through sin, and the garden, which was lush before, became a desolate land, a wilderness of sin, sorrow, suffering, hatred, enmity, poverty, and ultimately death.
The second Adam came and His mission was to reverse and to turn the process when Adam fell. Through the passion, the death and resurrection of Christ, Eden was restored and the paradise was resumed; and now the gates of Eden are now open for all humanity. Jesus will “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground,” as the Christmas song goes. Jesus makes His blessings flow far as the curse is found.
In Isaiah 55:13, “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.” This is the permanence of Jesus’ victory; it is irreversible. He has put an end to sin and the effects of it which ultimately lead to death. In Isaiah 55:11, God said, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways… So will My word will not return to Me without succeeding in purpose.” A song verse goes, “Heartaches, broken people, ruined lives are why You died in Calvary.” Jesus turns the devastation (thorns in our lives, ruined lives and brokenness) into a lush garden.
In an Easter song, we declare: Christ is alive and we live with Him; freedom and joy were death had been. God turns things around; the bad into good. We, as humans, we were created from the dust of the earth. Human came from the word – humus – which is synonymous to the soil. Jesus, our Gardener, is not afraid to get His hands dirty. He doesn’t mind our dirt like our sicknesses or our problems.
One church father, Ambrose, said that we are the apple of God’s eyes and this is why we are treasure and precious gems. Falling into the dirt, Jesus could have said, “Abracadabra” to lift us up from the mud. Ambrose said that with all His glory in His white robe, Jesus dove into the mud, down into the bottom of it, and reached down to lift us up and out of the mud. In the process, Jesus did not mind being dirtied because this is how much He loves us – to give His life to rescue us.
We are encouraged to dwell and to stay in the garden, and there may be stuff like dung in the garden – ours and our brother’s. To God, it doesn’t matter because even the dirtiest things that come from us, He turns around and He makes manure and fertilizer out of it. God causes all things to work together for good. The meanest out of us or the bad in us can be turned around into something productive. He turns our garbage into something that would be productive. Be encouraged; stay even if our brother stinks of poop because God can cause it to be a sweet fragrant offering to God.
We may have to be in the compost pit for a while, but we can be productive for God is working. Jesus, the Gardener, can turn things around. There may also be pruning, pain, or suffer loss, but its purpose is so we can bear more fruit. Our best interest is in God's minds always. His purpose is for us not to lose, but to multiply.
Like Mary, we may not recognize the Gardener at first, and see that He is working but He is even now. During Black Saturday, the disciples did not see Jesus until Easter, but it doesn’t mean that He wasn’t doing anything. Jesus descended into the realm of the dead and conquered death. He trampled death by His own death. We may not see this and weep at times thinking, “Why have You forsaken us? Where are You? We want to see You!” Realize that Christ is working even now. We may be in the midst of a global pandemic, but God is working even now. Let Him work through us. We may have a reason to despair, to complain, to weep, but God still works and God uses us.
Isaiah was sulking because the king at that time who they considered was a great king died and Isaiah though that he lost all hope. God asked, “What are you doing in dust and ashes? I am looking for someone to send,” and then Isaiah saw God’s glory and he said, “Here I am Lord, send me.” Isaiah shook the gloom out of him and then asked God to send him.
Right now, God is asking the same question. In the midst of all this, “Whom shall I send?” for He has hope to offer to the world. We are called to be instruments and channels of this hope.
Jesus Christ is the first fruits; we follow as the second fruit. If He is the First Born, we are the second born because of the privilege and the honor that we are chosen, but others are also to follow. Jesus has other flock that He needs to bring in, and we can be instruments to make this happen. Dwell in the land. Cultivate faithfulness. Do not shrink; be committed and be steadfast. Don’t be afraid to get our hands dirty. Don’t be too disgusted about the smell of people around us. Jesus encountered this, and we are His followers. Jesus Christ washed the feet of His disciples and we know those feet trod on dirt roads and it didn’t matter to Jesus. Jesus asked His disciples, "Do you understand what I did to you?’ They had to because they are called to the same.
Jesus calls us to do the same – to ignore the weaknesses of people, their shortcomings and to endure them and to help cleanse them. Start with the feet, which is the most unpleasant part. We are called to help remove the stink and the dirt off of their feet so that we may understand the mission that God gave us.
The song says, “Christ is alive! We live with Him. Freedom and joy where death had been…join as the dance of life begins.” We are called to participate in the victory of the Resurrection for ourselves and to spread this by being instruments of this victory to the world where we live in. The life of the Resurrection is here! The hope of the Resurrection is here because this is the way it is in the kingdom of our God.
