Mary and the 'gardener' - John 20.10-18
Verse 14…
…’at this, she turned around and
saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. “Woman”,
he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir,
if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get
him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned towards him and
cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
The other day my friend Barry phoned
me and I began chatting away until it dawned on me that I wasn’t talking to
Barry but my youngest son Joe. Somehow, they had both phoned at the same time,
my phone showed a call from Barry, but Joe’s call got in first.
How did I know it was my son,
well mainly because I recognised his voice?
“Mary” – said Jesus, and she
recognised the voice if not the person whom she took to be the gardener. She
was not expecting to meet her risen Lord.
Two points to reflect on…
My home church of St Matthew
and St Oswald have recorded Night Prayer for the evenings of Holy Week. As part
of the liturgy we read Psalm 139 which speaks of God’s intimate knowledge of us
as individuals.
God knows your name – do you
know that?
God loves you – do you know that?
Mary recognised Jesus’ voice
– do we recognise the voice of Jesus?
and a prayer….
Risen Lord Jesus, as Mary Magdalen
met you in the garden
on the morning of the resurrection,
so may we meet you today and every day:
speak to us as you spoke to her;
reveal
yourself as the living Lord;
renew our hope and kindle our joy;
and send us to share the good news with
others. Amen
Peter and Jesus - John 21: 1 – 19
What to do, what to do – lots
of confusing messages and Jesus appearing before them as risen from death.
Peter does what he knows best
at a time like this – he goes fishing and takes with him six other disciples
for a night’s trip out on the lake in their fishing boat.
But as much as they enjoyed
being at a physical task their labours were in vain and they begin to head to
shore having caught nothing.
There is a man on the shore
whom they don’t recognize who calls out to them…
“Friends, haven’t you any
fish”
He then told them to throw
the net on the other side and having done so they caught such an abundance of
fish they were unable to land them all.
John seems to have recognised
that it was Jesus and said to Peter, “it is the Lord”
Then Peter, impetuous Peter,
who was working away wearing only his boxers put on his outer garment and
jumped in the water.
Do you imagine Jesus had a
wry smile on his face as Peter hauls himself out of the water all dripping wet?
Breakfast is cooking over an
open charcoal fire and Peter’s mind is immediately back to another day, not
long ago, and another charcoal fire.
They sit and eat with a
thousand and one questions being asked but not spoken.
Then Jesus catches Peter’s
eye and nods for him to follow him as they walk together out of earshot of the
others.
As they walk along the shore
Jesus picks up three stones, carrying them in his hand.
Eventually they stop and
Jesus asks Peter, addressing him as Simon son of John, not Peter, “ Simon son
of John, do you truly love me.”
Peter responds, “Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you”
Jesus responds by saying,
“Feed my lambs” and hurls one of the stones into the lake and it sinks below
the surface with a splash.
Again, Jesus turns to Peter,
“Simon son of John, do you truly love me.”
Peter responds as before,
“Yes Lord, you know that I love you”
Jesus replies, “Take care of
my sheep” and throws a second stone this time just a bit further than the first
one.
For the third time Jesus
asks, “Simon son of John, do you love me.”
This third time is puzzling
to Peter and he is hurt by being asked yet again the same question.
He replies, “Lord you know
all things, you know that I love you”
Jesus replies, “feed my
sheep” – and hurls the stone even further and again it sinks below the water
with a load splash.
Jesus then continues and
tells Peter something of what he will face in the future, about being
imprisoned and eventually put to death.
And then having said this
Jesus then gives him the same invite he had offered all those years ago…
“Follow me”
Full pardon, full restitution, abundant grace, love and forgiveness and a renewed call
I have met some bad people in my time but you know it doesn’t matter
what sin you may have committed, if we come humbly before God and confess that
sin, Jesus will take it and hurl it into the ocean depths.
Then he will say to us, “and
don’t go wading in there trying to find it – but come and follow me”
Left field thought…
Where did Jesus get his clothes following his
resurrection?
Now I accept that the supernatural and God's power breaks occasionally
into the natural world, but this is different from magic, this isn’t Harry
Potter.
Maybe we get a clue from the story of Mary meeting Jesus
in the garden.
In my garden shed is my
boiler suit. I put this on if I am gardening or doing odd jobs around the
house.
Maybe Jesus was wearing the gardener’s
clothes which is possibly why she thought he was the gardener.
Now if the thought of the resurrected
Jesus walking about naked disturbs you then look back to the cross.
Despite nearly all depictions
of Jesus being crucified show him wearing at least a loin cloth, there is
debate about how true this would have been.
‘Normal’ Roman practise would
have been to strip the victim naked as part of the shaming and punishment. (Cf.
Hebrews 12.2)
However, there are those who
argue that for Jewish sensibilities some modicum of covering would have been
allowed.
Maybe, maybe not, we simply
don’t know. What we do know is that the Romans in using crucifixion wanted to
use it as a shock tactic. Hence brutal, bloody, excruciatingly painful and
utterly shameful and all in public view, usually near a major gate or thoroughfare. People needed to see that if you mess with
Rome this is what happens.
Thinking of Jesus being naked
on the cross I am pushed back to recall Adam and Eve in another garden. And whereas
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was obedient to the will of his Father (Cf.
Philippians 2.6-11) Adam and Eve chose the path of self-willed rebellion and disobedience.
The result…
Genesis 3:8–10
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and the man and
his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to
him, “Where are you? And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Naked shamefulness in the
sight of God. And note God’s response in
Genesis 3.21 ‘The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and
clothed them.’
That would seem to suggest
that to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, blood was shed and an animal was sacrificed.
So fast forward, through
Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension and looking towards his return…
1 John 2:28-29 The Message (MSG) Live Deeply in Christ
'And now, children,
stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he
appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt
or lame excuses when he arrives. Once you’re convinced
that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice
righteousness are God’s true children.'
God clothed Adam and
Eve in the sacrificed skins of animals to cover their shame and guilt.
Now, through the
accomplished greater work and sacrifice of Christ we are clothed in a robe of righteousness.
‘I am overwhelmed with joy in
the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and
draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his
wedding or a bride with her jewels.’
Isaiah 61.10
Years ago, we used to sing this chorus....
‘I Am Covered Over
With The Robe of Righteousness'
I am covered over with the robe of righteousness that
Jesus gives to me, gives to me;
I am covered over with the precious blood of Jesus
And he lives in me, he lives in me,
Oh what joy it is to know my Heavenly Father loves me so,
And gave to me, my Jesus,
When He looks at me He sees not what I used to be, but
He sees Jesus, Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1rptZB0ydQ
Do you need to go and check your wardrobe...
www.christianity.org.uk
But if you are in lock down
and unable to leave your home then thankfully due to the wonder of modern
technology, we can also heed the same command, to be the ‘sent ones’ – through
the social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom meeting and even good
old fashioned letter writing. Also, flowers are still being delivered – now
there a nice thought to bring some colour and cheer to someone.
