Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
John 19:41 (NASB1995)
I find that the years seem to fly by quicker the older I get, and that I reminisce more of my past. One such memory inspired by the planting of summer bedding plants in our garden one year came from several years earlier – 1975, when I was only eight years old. That year, I remember watching the BBC drama “The Secret Garden” avidly with great admiration. The story is from a novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911), about Mary Lennox, who is a spoiled little English girl orphaned in India and sent to live with distant relatives in Yorkshire. Misselthwaite Manor is full of mystery, with forbidden corridors, strange noises, and a secret locked garden. I watched every episode, keen to follow Mary’s adventures in the beautiful, mysterious garden. Since then, gardens and beautiful wild places have held my admiration throughout my life. As I reflected on this distant memory, I also remembered that gardens are important in the Bible.
The Bible begins with God creating a garden in Eden, with every type of tree and bush, both for food and beauty. It was there that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan and disobeyed God, and their sin spoiled God’s perfect world. Another Old Testament story is that of Queen Esther, and her part in saving her people – it is played out in the royal courtyards and gardens of King Ahasuerus, King of Persia. The most touching garden story for me happens in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46), where our Lord Jesus wept tears of blood in prayer before His Father God before the Crucifixion. Finally, His body was laid in the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, from where He rose triumphantly over death and all of our sins.
Dear reader, see how these great matters of redemption were handled by God in gardens. Man sinned and God began the work of Redemption in the garden of Eden; and His chosen Redeemer, Jesus Christ, His own Son, sealed the deal in a rich man’s garden – first dying to pay the price of all sin and then defeating death from the tomb! Without any doubt, our Father God did His best work in gardens. Take time the next time you visit a garden, and prayerfully thank Him.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
