This marvelous, contemplative scene was created by the Dutch painter, Janpeter Muilwijk (1960-). The word contemplative might mean to look, to listen, then again, and then to attend even more, until there is some inner resonance. This painting (2014) is titled simply, The Gardener, depicting the Easter morning gospel account:
"She (Mary Magdalen) said to them (the two angels), "They have taken my Master away, and I do not know where they have put him." As she said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was he. Jesus said to her, "Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She, supposing that he was the gardener, said to him, "If it was you, sir, that carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew "Rabbouni!" which means Master." John 20:13-16
Someone has suggested that when Jesus rose from the dead he needed clothes, and so he dressed himself in the clothes left behind by the gardener. That would be a dead-end detail that in no way helps us spiritually. The Gospel accounts never give us useless fillers or pointless information.
What then? The bible begins with the dual stories of God who is a creator. In the second creation story (Genesis 2:4ff) we are told:
"God molded man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life so that man became a living being. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the east and put there the man whom he had molded."
The human story begins with our being placed in a garden. Indeed, gardening is Adam's work. Now, in Christ we meet the New Adam — the new man (the new human person) and so the best place for that meeting to take place is, the garden.
Janpeter depicts the encounter in great loveliness. We see the gardener's shovel behind Jesus. The Tree of Life is in the center of the picture. It is Spring — the season of change and new beginnings. A chilly early morning, we see the breath of Jesus as he speaks Magdalen's name. The wounds of Jesus are each touched by petals fallen from the full-blooming tree. The birds have returned with a sung announcement of resurrection's new life. Is that a Spotted Song Thrush singing in the tree? The ground sprouts trumpet-like daffodils.
Jesus is dismantling the fence that had separated humankind from the Tree of Life — the fence of our appalling attachment to violence, death and decay: the love affair we have with war and every kind of greed, savagery and killing. To the right we see the brush fire Jesus has made of that separating fence. Magdalen is unsure of who this is and in what new form. She touches Jesus delicately with her little finger. In the bottom left there is a small bush that at first glance looks dead. But looking more closely, we detect signs of life — some buds and a single flower. Hope Springs Eternal. In Jesus risen, God is no loser.
Spiritually, Magdalen was correct, Jesus is the gardener — the new Adam. He is the one who shows us how we should have gone about living with God and God's creation. But the soil the Risen Christ wants to break into and till, is the soil of our hearts (our inner selves). As the good gardener, he is full of spring time hope for his plot. The gardener wants to plant seeds. The gardener wants the garden to be fruitful and flowering. The gardener wants the garden to be beautiful. What might Christ the gardener want to sow or plant in me? Is there a toxic (poisonous) "weed" Christ the gardener would want to yank out of me (not simply some bad habit I've picked up) but an attitude perhaps that has invaded me or that "stinks" or is wrecking havoc unbeknownst to me.
Gardeners are dreamers. What could Christ the Gardener dream for me? We might have a conversation with this Easter morning Jesus whose breath carries each of our names. What might I have to say to him? What might I ask of Jesus the Gardener? Don't ask him to keep everyone healthy — we can save that for another time. This is Christ the Gardener who wants everything a gardener hopes for, plants for and intends to be true for each and all of us. His shovel is there at the ready. He wants to begin. He wants to break new ground in me; restore old ground. Gardeners want things to grow: grow me up Jesus! Can I name any of that for myself?
