The Gardens
(NIV) Gen 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(NIV) Matt 25:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Have you ever thought about the gardens mentioned prominently in the Bible? Thera is a dichotomy that I began thinking about early this morning. Gardens, where growth and transformation take place. Gardens, where community happens. And gardens, where betrayal leading to death occurred.
In the first garden, new life began. By all accounts, Eden was a paradise where man walked with God. Eden was teeming with life, new life, and there was nothing lacking. But as soon as man disobeyed God, Eden was transformed from a garden of life into a garden of doom. Indeed, if Adam and Eve had remained in the Garden, they would have tasted of the Tree of Life and lived forever in their sin.
Likewise, The Garden of Gethsemane which contained a grove of olive trees, was transformed from a quiet place of introspection and prayer into a place of chaos. Where Jesus called His most trustworthy disciples, asking them to pray, Could you not tarry one hour? He was betrayed first by their inability to remain awake. He was betrayed by their incomprehension of the seriousness of the time. The final betrayal came when Judas brought Roman soldiers to arrest Him.
As I consider these two places, I wonder if each of us has had our own garden experiences. Was there a time when we relied on God more than we do today? Did we linger in God’s presence, finding our communion with Him and our Christian brothers and sisters life giving and life affirming?
May we return to the place where our first thought when we awake is of God, and our hearts desire is to walk with Him in our own personal garden.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Seeking Holiness 