Gardener

[Tambora]

John 20 ESV
(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.”

Why would Mary suppose it to be a gardener by the tomb?
Was it normal for Jewish burial tombs to be in the midst of a garden setting that needed a gardener to tend it?
Is there any OT writings of Jewish burial sites being in gardens?

Could that obscure little detail that John adds to the story have a theological significance?

Adam was placed in a garden to tend it.
At the resurrection Jesus would be the new Adam.
Is there a connection?

 

[Arial]

John 20 ESV
(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.”

Why would Mary suppose it to be a gardener by the tomb?
Was it normal for Jewish burial tombs to be in the midst of a garden setting that needed a gardener to tend it?
Is there any OT writings of Jewish burial sites being in gardens?

Could that obscure little detail that John adds to the story have a theological significance?

Adam was placed in a garden to tend it.
At the resurrection Jesus would be the new Adam.
Is there a connection?

You do come up with interesting questions!

Here is the answer to this one concerning the gardener.

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. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby. (John 19:41–42)

 

[Josheb]

Why would Mary suppose it to be a gardener by the tomb?

Because the angelic form was not as it is in reality. Had it been so she most likely would have been greeted with, "Fear not."

Was it normal for Jewish burial tombs to be in the midst of a garden setting that needed a gardener to tend it?

Yes. Remember this was not an ordinary grave. Jesus was laid to rest in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb. It was expensive. The rich did not let their tombs become overgrown with weeds and brush.

Is there any OT writings of Jewish burial sites being in gardens?

Yes, but 1) I'll have to get back to you on that (because I have to run out the door) and 2) the answer has nothing to do with whether or not the tomb was in a garden and more to do with the tomb having a caretaker (gardener). Risch folks like to keep their resting places well kept.


I'm back. Here is one place where scripture reports tombs in a garden.

John 19:38-42
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Joe's tomb was built in a garden. Hope this helps.

 

[Tambora]

OT verses of kings and their gardens and being buried there:

King Manasseh​

2 Kings 21​

(18) And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.​

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King Amon​

2 Kings 21​

(26) And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.​

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King Zedekiah​

Jeremiah 52​

(7) Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah.​

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Nehemiah 3​

(15) And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.​

(16) After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men.​

Kings of Israel buried in garden tombs ---- THE King of Israel buried in garden tomb.

 

[Tambora]

You do come up with interesting questions!

Here is the answer to this one concerning the gardener.

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. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby. (John 19:41–42)

Yep, I can't help but see a reason why John draws attention to that little detail.

 

[Arial]

Yep, I can't help but see a reason why John draws attention to that little detail.

Well, it is the place where his tomb was and it may be that it was significant to John, who loved Jesus dearly, that even though the crucifixion was of a horrific magnitude of the ugliness of men, he was buried in garden. I found this from cambridge.org/core/books/abs/archaeology-of-the-holy-land/ancient-jewish-tombs-and-burial-customs-to-70-ce/0C0B48471EC795D191D583248B24FD92

Because of the expense associated with hewing a burial cave into bedrock, only the wealthier members of Jerusalem's population – the upper classes – could afford rock-cut tombs. The lower classes apparently disposed of their dead in a manner that has left fewer traces in the archaeological record – for example, in individual trench graves or cist graves dug into the ground.

In any case, there was not one jot or tittle written in this account that does not contain perfect, beautiful, integrated, value or purpose in the economy of God. 'Cause that is who he is.

 

[Tambora]

Well, it is the place where his tomb was and it may be that it was significant to John, who loved Jesus dearly, that even though the crucifixion was of a horrific magnitude of the ugliness of men, he was buried in garden. I found this from cambridge.org/core/books/abs/archaeology-of-the-holy-land/ancient-jewish-tombs-and-burial-customs-to-70-ce/0C0B48471EC795D191D583248B24FD92

Because of the expense associated with hewing a burial cave into bedrock, only the wealthier members of Jerusalem's population – the upper classes – could afford rock-cut tombs. The lower classes apparently disposed of their dead in a manner that has left fewer traces in the archaeological record – for example, in individual trench graves or cist graves dug into the ground.

In any case, there was not one jot or tittle written in this account that does not contain perfect, beautiful, integrated, value or purpose in the economy of God. 'Cause that is who he is.

Thanks for the link.
Yeah, I like the connection of Kings being buried in gardens, and it adds yet another connection of Jesus being King.
Another thing that came to my mind was the Tabernacle/Temple (the presence of God) being decorated with garden imagery.

 

[Arial]

Thanks for the link.
Yeah, I like the connection of Kings being buried in gardens, and it adds yet another connection of Jesus being King.
Another thing that came to my mind was the Tabernacle/Temple (the presence of God) being decorated with garden imagery.

I started a thread a while back about the Living Tapestry of Redemption. You have just brought to my attention some gorgeous purple and scarlet threads.

Jesus was killed like a worthless pauper, buried like a King, in a garden, rose from the dead and returned to the Father to receive his coronation, will, in due, time, restore all of earth to a garden, and walk among us again.