A Gardener Named Adam
When John continues to play off of the creation story.
John 20:11-18 | Romans 5:12-21
Mary begins in tears and ends declaring she’s seen Jesus.
A lot can happen in a short bit.
It’s notable that different people deal with grief or confusion in different ways. Peter and the other disciple ran away. Mary went back for a second look.
There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the resurrection of Christ and these resurrection stories. Today, for one: why weren’t the angels there for the first look into the tomb? When Peter & the other disciple were there, too?
Nonetheless, Mary answers their question (still calling Jesus her Lord!). How does she not recognize Jesus? Nonetheless, she persists in her care for Jesus, telling the “gardener” she is willing to get his body and return it. Mary Magdalene is something.
The gardener…Jesus is the gardener, by the way. His resurrection in that garden outside Jerusalem is the beginning of a new creation. New Eden. New Adam (Jesus).
New beginning.
John 20:11-18
Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.
Romans 5:12-21
Just as through one human being sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to everyone, since everyone has sinned. Although sin was in the world, since there was no Law, it wasn’t taken into account until the Law came. But death ruled from Adam until Moses, even over those who didn’t sin in the same way Adam did—Adam was a type of the one who was coming.
But the free gift of Christ isn’t like Adam’s failure. If many people died through what one person did wrong, God’s grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift—of the one person Jesus Christ—that comes through grace. The gift isn’t like the consequences of one person’s sin. The judgment that came from one person’s sin led to punishment, but the free gift that came out of many failures led to the verdict of acquittal. If death ruled because of one person’s failure, those who receive the multiplied grace and the gift of righteousness will even more certainly rule in life through the one person Jesus Christ.
So now the righteous requirements necessary for life are met for everyone through the righteous act of one person, just as judgment fell on everyone through the failure of one person. Many people were made righteous through the obedience of one person, just as many people were made sinners through the disobedience of one person. The Law stepped in to amplify the failure, but where sin increased, grace multiplied even more. The result is that grace will rule through God’s righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, just as sin ruled in death.
Prayer
God,
There are times when I would just like to be Adam in the garden. Tending soil, eating fruit, enjoying creation. No meetings, no phone, no phrenetic schedule. Of course, no war, no violence, no power-scheming. Just gardens and community with humans and you.
I suppose I don’t have to wait for that, do I?
Help me to prune my life, God. In the knowledge that there is work to do (and there is), remove from me the feeling like it’s all for me to do. Help me to trust you and your cosmic plan. Remind me of such things as planetary orbits, lunar tides, the rise and fall of the sun…things that continue on despite humanity’s billions of little grasps for meaning and power.
Help me begin today. Help me see the situations right in front of me: my spouse, my kids, the animals in my care, the people around me. And yes, the tasks before me as well. Help me to see them with the right eyes.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.