Genesis 3:1-16 John 20:1-18 (Psalm 118:1-2, 17-24 1 Corinthians 15:20-26)
Redeemed, Restored, and Reconciled
Some Pharisees once tried to trap Jesus by asking him a question about divorce. Jesus shocked them by taking them back, not to the Law given to Moses that actually permitted divorce, but to Creation. He reminded them that it was because their hearts were hard that Moses wrote them this law, but at the beginning of creation it was not so.
Jesus went back to what the Creator initially intended for us…not what was permitted after sin had entered the world. Now, I don’t want to talk about marriage and divorce today. But I want to point out that because of Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees with regard to the original intent of our Creator at creation, I believe we can safely deduce that the norm or the standard for life in the Kingdom after Jesus’ resurrection, is life as it ought to have been pre-Genesis 3.
What I do want to talk about today is, what I call, the tale of two Gardens. In the Scriptures, we have major five stories taking place in gardens. The first is the Garden of Eden, the second is the Garden of Israel described in Isaiah 5, the third is the Garden of Gethsemane, the fourth is the Garden in which the Tomb of Jesus was situated and where Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and finally the fifth is the Garden of Paradise described by John in Revelation 22. Now, there are many parallels between all five of these Gardens, but this morning we are just going to look at two.
We have read two rather long readings today, one from Genesis 3 and the other from John 20 for good reason. I believe that the one is related to the other. So, my aim today is to point out to you the many parallels between these two stories to illustrate, as best I can, the universal and eternal impact of the death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us today.
The first thing to notice is the day. Both events took place after the seventh day, the Sabbath Day, the day on which God rested after finishing his work on creation and the day on which Jesus rested in the tomb after finishing his work on recreation. The purpose of this parallel seems clear. Because, the of Jesus reversed the effects of the Fall, His resurrection ushered in the new creation.
The second thing to notice is that in both gardens there was a woman wanting something. In the Garden of Eden, Eve wanted to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the Tomb Garden, Mary Magdalene wanted to know where the body of Jesus was so that she might complete the burial ritual. The first act is primarily selfish, the second primarily selfless. Defying logic, Mary waited, wanting nothing more than, what she at the time believed to be a dead body. But she didn’t care. She loved Jesus and so she stayed. Also note that in both Gardens the men were absent…Adam was absent during the temptation scene and Peter and John had left the tomb, leaving Mary behind.
The third thing is obviously the trees…there were two in Eden, namely the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life. In one sense, the tree in the Tomb Garden was in the background…it was, of course, the cross. Now, I believe that there is a very good reason why Paul repeatedly stated that Jesus was hung on a tree…in case you are wondering, there is a perfectly good Greek word for “cross” and Paul used that word as well…but when Paul did refer to Jesus being hung on a tree, I believe that he was not only recalling the law that says that anyone hung on a tree is cursed, but also he was recalling the words of Jesus: Take eat, Jesus said, this is my body…this is my blood…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. You see, as far as the biblical authors and Early Church were concerned, Jesus is the Tree of Life. In this sense, the Tree of Life is very much present in the Tomb Garden.
Eating obviously features in both stories – in Eden, eating the fruit would bring death as the act of disobedience would cut them off from their Creator, their only source of life…and, as I just said, sacramental participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus, represented in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine, would restore that connection to the source of life as all in Jesus will surely live.
Like the tree, the Serpent was front and centre in Eden, but again, in one sense, in the background in the Tomb Garden. In Eden we see Satan’s triumph as Adam and Eve believed him rather than God, but at the cross we see his defeat…as Paul said in Colossians 2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The resurrection was proof that Jesus had won the victory over sin, Satan, and death.
As such, in Jesus there is a reversal of the penalty of Death as Jesus defeated death by dying a sinless life – sin is sometimes described in Scripture as a dividing wall between God and us and, consequently, as sin effectively cuts us off from our only source of life, we are, in many ways, the living dead…or as Paul would put it, we were dead in our trespasses and sins.
But in Jesus, the penalty of sin was paid for and so the wall has been removed, the breath of God is once more breathed into us like into Adam at the creation…the life giving Holy Spirit has been breathed into us, and so life has been restored.
Adam also features in both gardens…the 1st Adam in Eden, the 2nd Adam (as Paul calls Jesus) in the Tomb Garden. Interestingly, in Eden, Adam was made to be a gardener and in the Tomb Garden, Mary mistook the risen Jesus for a gardener.
In both stories the Seed of the woman is mentioned…the first as a promise, the second as a promised fulfilled. Jesus is the fulfilment of Genesis 3:15 – He is the Seed of the woman who has defeated the serpent.
The curse was pronounced in Genesis but removed in the Gospels. Jesus took the curse, pronounced on those in the 1st Adam, upon himself to effectively remove the curse from those who are now in the 2nd Adam, namely in Jesus.
There is also an element of Sacrifice in both stories. In Genesis God gave Adam and Eve garments of skins to cover their sin. Obviously, two animals had to die…their blood had to be shed to provide their skins…I believe that these were more than likely lambs as lambs become the main sacrificial animal later in the law, especially in the Exodus story. And in the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and effectively covers all who believe in him with His righteousness.
The Spirit of God is also present as I mentioned earlier…in making Adam, God breathed life into him, and in the upper room after the resurrection, Jesus breathed over the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, a deliberate act illustrating that what happened on the cross was nothing short of a new creation.
In both Gardens we also have spoken messages, both from women. In Eden the message was one of death to Adam, but in the Gospels, the message of Mary was one of life to the disciples. It is interesting to note that while Adam did not question Mary’s message, the disciples thought the women to be out of their minds. But again, Mary did not care. She was a witness to Jesus – the one she loved above all else – and so she bore the message even to those who mocked her for it. As such Mary became the first herald of the new creation…the first preacher of the Gospel…and I believe this to be a deliberate act on the part of Jesus. He could have chosen Peter or John…after all they were also at the tomb…but he purposefully waited for them to leave so that he might reveal himself to Mary. “Why?” you may ask. And I’m so glad you asked the question!
I believe it is because in Genesis 1 & 2 we see humanity created by God as male and female both in the image of God to serve together in complementary equality as vice-regents over the world (Genesis 1:26-28). Both received the command to exercise dominion over the created order. It is only in Genesis 3 that this complementary equality falls apart. It is the curse that brings about inequality, and division, and strife because it is only after the Fall that the husband is said to rule over his wife and the wife is said to struggle against her husband. It is part of the curse pronounced over fallen humanity, but at the beginning of creation it was not so.
I believe that, in Jesus, this original complementary equality is restored. Jesus specifically, deliberately, and purposefully used Mary Magdalen instead of Peter or John to preach the first message of the Gospel – as such, Mary Magdalene represents his reversal of the curse. And also remember the so-called Great Commission was not just given to the 12 Apostles. It was given to all 120 disciples, both men and women.
Then there were also Angels in both Gardens. In Eden they were there to stop humanity from re-entering Paradise, in the Tomb Garden they were there to announce that the way to Paradise had been reopened by Jesus though his resurrection.
Milton described this as Paradise lost and Paradise restored. Remember the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross? “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” This garden Paradise is described in more detail in the last chapter in the book of the Revelation, but that is a message for another time.
Finally, there is a command in both stories as well. In Genesis the command was given to the man and the woman to exercise dominion over the created order. In the Gospels and in the book of Acts, the command was given to the men and the women of the Church to go into the whole world to make disciples of the nations by bringing them under the authority of God and by teaching them to obey Him.
So, you might be thinking, this is all very interesting, but what does it mean to me living in Heiloo in the 21st Century? Again, I am so glad you are asking such wonderful questions!
I believe that the New Testament authors purposefully used images from the creation story and the story of the Fall to show that Jesus ushered in a New Creation…consequently all who are in Jesus are not only living in the New Creation (or renewing creation), but we are, as Paul tells us, new creatures, created in Jesus for good works.
“What good works?” you may ask. Great question again! Dearest beloved brethren, in Jesus, we are now where Adam and Eve were at creation – we have been recreated in the 2nd Adam to do what Adam and Eve were created to do – what they were meant to do – namely to exercise dominion over the all the earth…to take care of God’s world…and part of that care is bringing people into alignment with God’s truth.
“But,” you may object, “we do not live in a perfect world like Adam and Eve…we live in a fallen and broken world.” That’s right. We do. But that is why we are commanded by Jesus to continue to do what he came to do and to continue to teach what he came to teach (this is the whole message of the book of Acts). We have been redeemed from sin, restored to life through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we have been reconciled to God and to each other for a purpose – we are to make disciples of all nations (like Adam and Eve we are meant to reign as vice-regents under God) by sharing God’s message of reconciliation. We are to proclaim to the world that the dividing wall between Creator and creation has been torn down and that there is new life to be had by all who come out from under the 1st Adam and surrender to the 2nd Adam. As new creations we are living testimonies to this truth, and we are here in the world to bring the world under the headship of Jesus. Therefore, we are described in the New Testament as new creatures, as the new Israel, and as the new Jerusalem. In Jesus we are now the light of the world…we are the city set on a hill…we are living witnesses to the finished work of Christ.
As such, Mary Magdalene is a type for us…we too must love Jesus even beyond logic and we too must be simple, obedient witnesses even though others may think we are out of our minds. Her challenge to us all is simple: go and tell. That is the only way to bring about lasting change in this world.
Now, hear me well…and please do not misunderstand me. We will never change the world by going to church. We will never change the world by going to Bible Studies and seminars and retreats. These are all good things that we ought to be doing and then some, but they are simply not enough if we are serious about obeying our Lord’s command to change the world. We, my dearest beloved brethren, will only change the world by going into the world and proclaiming the Gospel…we will only change the world by being the church…we will only change the world by being like Mary Magdalene.
So, be like Mary. Be the Church. Go and tell. Go and tell. Go and tell.
Let us pray.
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2022
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