Did Jesus Say He Was God? – The Gardener
In this blog series we’ve looked at four different Jewish ways that Jesus claimed to be God. It’s not difficult to see that Jesus was considered to be God through the New Testament letters, but what about the Gospels? The Gospel writers include claims that identify Jesus as God all throughout their writings, but our modern eyes tend to miss these details. Today’s post looks at one of these instances that takes place just after the resurrection…
Welcome to Paradise. Now grab a shovel…
When you think of Paradise, what comes to mind? You might be surprised to know that for the Ancient Near Eastern person, Paradise looked like a garden. Several years ago my wife and I had a vegetable garden on the side of our house. If left unkept, it became more of a jungle than a paradise. It took work to not only keep it looking nice, but also to deter unwanted guests from intruding. And there’s my point: Gardens don’t necessarily communicate the idea of Paradise to us because they require work.
Who wants to work in Paradise?!
Well, the Ancient Near Eastern person had no concept of Instacart or Amazon Prime Delivery. Everything they had was due to the work of their own hands. In fact, their lives revolved around providing for their family’s daily needs. This is why large groups of people would live and work together. The larger the family group, the easier it would be to meet basic needs.
But sometimes the weather didn’t cooperate. For example, if they experienced a dry season, crops would fail. That could mean their very survival was in danger. This is why Ancient Near Eastern people would look to their God or gods. They believed that their deity provided for them, so long as they had the favor of their deity.
The idea of Paradise to the Ancient Near Eastern person was a place that would never experience a dry season. In fact, the biblical writers would describe Paradise as a “land flowing with milk and honey” (This is how the Promised Land is described). They’re thinking, “If we live there, we’ll always have everything we need. We’ll never struggle to survive again!”
The Garden of Eden was thought to be a place like this – it’s literally Paradise! Interestingly, the Septuagint [The Old Testament Scriptures in Greek that people used during New Testament times] uses the word “paradise” [Greek = paradeisos] synonymously with “garden.” Compare these verses from the Septuagint with your English translation:
Genesis 2:8 – “The Lord God planted a paradise in Eden toward the east…”
Genesis 2:9 – “…the tree of life in the midst of the paradise…”
Genesis 2:10 – “But a river goes out from Eden to water the paradise”
Genesis 2:15 – “The Lord God took the human that he formed, and he placed him in the paradise to work and to keep it.”
Genesis 2:16 – “From every tree that is in the paradise you may eat for food…”
Genesis 3:3 – “but from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the paradise God said…”
This is interesting because “most of the time, the Septuagint will use paradeisos for garden, and it does so consistently with the Garden of Eden” (The Naked Bible Podcast, Episode 335).
The Garden of Eden is Paradise
Eden is a place where whoever lives there, lives without needing anything. But more than that, it’s the Garden of God – it’s where He lives (Ezekiel 28:13, 31:8-9)! If you’re living with Yahweh God, you want for nothing. He’s the Gardener that sustains His family, forever (John 15:1).
This gardener imagery isn’t unique to Yahweh God. Other Ancient Near Eastern deities are seen as gardeners as well. Because of this, gardener imagery naturally extends to kings, which can be found all over ancient Mesopotamian literature and the Old Testament (Joachim Schaper, Paradise in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Views, Chapter 2).
The idea is the same as that of deities: The king is the one responsible for providing for his people. In some cases the king is seen as the deity, and in others the king is supposed to have a direct connection to the deity. Either way, it’s the king’s job to ensure that his people survive and thrive. He’s their gardener.
Jesus as the Gardener
Fast forward to the New Testament. Considering everything we just talked about, let’s go to the Gospel of John because we’re about to see that John uses an interesting literary progression with garden imagery that can be traced from chapters 15 through 20. Check it out:
In John 15:1, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
On the night that Judas would betray Jesus, they were all in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1-3).
After Jesus was arrested, Peter was confronted by a servant of the high priest. He said to Peter, “Didn’t I see you with him [Jesus] in the garden?” (John 18:26).
Jesus was crucified near a garden (John 19:41) and was buried in a new garden tomb (John 19:41). That’s significant because kings were often buried in their gardens (2 Kings 21:18, 25-26).
Then, after the resurrection, John writes that Mary was crying outside this garden tomb because Jesus was nowhere to be found. She thought someone had stolen His body! But then someone appears and says:
“Woman, 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 toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). (John 20:15-16)
Mary initially thought Jesus was the gardener. That’s one of those little details that we tend to skim over as modern readers. But considering everything we just learned about the significance of gardens and gardeners, one has to wonder:
Is John trying to tell us something?
You bet he is! John has already written that God the Father is the Gardener. Jesus is not only crucified near a garden, but He’s also buried in a garden, just like the traditional burial of a king. Then Mary sees the resurrected Jesus and initially thinks He’s the gardener – the person in charge of the garden!
We need to understand that John would have been well aware of how the Old Testament portrays garden imagery and their Ancient Near Eastern contexts. Knowing this, we can conclude that John is using a progression of garden imagery in his gospel account to show that Jesus is God by saying that He is the Gardener. It’s the same as saying: Jesus is the King of kings, and God of gods (Deuteronomy 10:17, Revelation 19:16).
The question for us then becomes: Which “garden” will we choose? (Isaiah 1:27-29) Will we recognize Jesus as our Gardener; our source and sustainer of life? Or will we search after other gardens; all of which are a false oasis that leads to death.
Next week we’ll look at one more way the Gospel’s claim that Jesus is God. You’re probably familiar with the story of when Jesus walked on water, but there’s so much more to it than Peter having just enough faith to jump out of the boat! Stay tuned…
Looking for more?
I love theme studies like this one that surveys the entire bible and extra-biblical literature. If you’re looking for more on today’s topic, I suggest checking out my favorite podcast: The Naked Bible Podcast, Episode 335: Jesus as the Gardener.