What Happened In The Garden?

An encounter with the Gardener of the human soul

If you’re familiar with John’s account of the gospel, you will remember that he begins writing his gospel, “In the beginning…”. John is undoubtedly connecting the Genesis narrative with the incarnation of the Logos, the Word became flesh. Several times throughout the gospel of John, you find parallels of Jesus’ ministry with the creation story. John equates Jesus with God and even tags him as Creator. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3, NIV). We should not be surprised at all then to find once more a striking parallel in the chosen place of His resurrection, a garden. And, there was a woman there too. This time however there’s no hiding, only the clinging desperation of a soul hopeful of a new life.

“…she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” John 20:14, NIV

In the quiet aftermath of the cross, while the world still reeled in grief, a woman stood weeping in a garden. Her name was Mary Magdalene. She had come to anoint the broken body of her Teacher, only to find an empty tomb and a stone rolled away. Her grief was raw, her hope buried with the one she called “Rabboni.” But then… a voice.

She turned and saw a man standing there. Mistaking Him for the gardener, she pleaded, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him.” But He wasn’t the gardener—at least, not in the way she thought. Or perhaps… He was exactly that.

In this sacred moment, the Gospel of John pulls back the veil to show us a scene that rewrites the oldest human tragedy. In the first garden, Eve listened to a lie and reached for a fruit that brought death. In this new garden, Mary hears her name spoken by the risen Christ—the Word of Life—and she reaches not for forbidden fruit but for the One who conquered death itself.

This encounter is more than a reunion; it is a redemption. Where Eve was the first to receive the curse, Mary becomes the first to receive the news of resurrection. Where Eden was closed by a flaming sword, the garden tomb is opened by the rolled-away stone. The Gardener speaks, and a new creation begins to bloom.

Jesus didn’t just rise in a garden—He rose as the Gardener of the human soul

Jesus didn’t just rise in a garden—He rose as the Gardener of the human soul, restoring what was lost in Eden. And He called Mary by name. That same voice still speaks today. It finds us in our tears, our confusion, our grief. And it offers us what Mary received: not just answers, but presence—not just clarity, but calling.

From fall to fullness, from curse to commission, the garden story has been rewritten. And like Mary, we are sent to say, “I have seen the Lord.”