In The Garden

John 20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Joseph of Arimathea arranged the burial of Jesus and he was laid in new tomb in a garden where no one had yet been buried.  Mary Magdalene was the first person to arrive there the morning of the resurrection of Jesus, and she was the first person to see and talk to him after initially believing his body had been removed.  As she sat alone outside of the tomb weeping in the garden, can you imagine the scene when she met the risen Lord?

Can you imagine being in that garden alone and having a conversation with the resurrected savior of the world?  The rest of her life must have been filled with unbelievable joy and peace when she reflected on the day she met Jesus in the garden alone.  Is the joy and peace really any different for Christians who meditate on this event and what it means for their salvation and future spiritual destination?  The photo above and the hymn below illustrate that Christians can have eternal contentment anytime they meditate on this hymn or visit a beautiful garden such as the Bellingrath Gardens shown in the photo above.  Brethren, let us take comfort when we visit such gardens in person or when we rely on past memories to visit them in our imagination.

In the Garden

Words and music by: C. Austin Miles

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.