By Craig Macartney

What were Jesus’ first thoughts after the resurrection? What did He do first as He revealed His cosmic victory over all powers of darkness?

The gospels are surprisingly vague on this, telling of Jesus’ resurrection from the perspective of the women coming to anoint His body. Yet, amid John’s gospel lies a subtle taste of the beauty, poetry, humility, and sheer magnitude of what Jesus has done.

The setup

Grieving, the women came early to the tomb, yet the stone was rolled aside. In their distress, they called Peter and John, who ran to the tomb. They both see that the once-guarded tomb is empty—and this was no snatch-and-grab job, the burial cloth was left behind and the veil is neatly folded. Confused and full of wonder, they return home.

Overcome by sorrow, Mary stays weeping at the open tomb until something drives her to look in, again. To her shock, two angels in the tomb ask why she is weeping. She answers, then turns around to see Jesus standing before her (though she doesn’t know it yet).

Jesus’ first recorded act is to comfort a humble, forgotten, and left-behind woman. God-incarnate, yet He wept with Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus; now—amid the victorious roar of heaven, at the very focal point of all history—He lingers at His own tomb to tell His secret to, and dry the eyes of, one of society’s most vulnerable.

The humility of this moment boldly declares that no one is forgotten, Jesus always stops for the one, and He cares about our broken hearts.

Yet, John’s account is only warming up. John 20:15 interrupts their conversation with a curious statement: She thought He was the gardener.

The Gardener

What was it about the resurrected Jesus that made Mary think He was a gardener? We could speculate all day, but John included this subtle phrase as a hint and a key, drawing our memories all the way back to how the story began.

Jesus is the gardener. He planted the garden in Eden, laboured in the Garden of Gethsemane, and here He reveals Himself as the first fruits in the garden of the resurrection.

The poetry is unmistakable. It was a very personal moment when Jesus greeted Mary in the garden, but it was also the prophetic culmination of God’s promise in Genesis 3: “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head and you will strike His heel.”

Eve, whose name means “life”, turned away from life, took hold of the fruit that brought death, and shared it with Adam. Because of their sin, humanity was exiled from the garden and kept from eating from the Tree of Life.

Now in a new garden, the once broken, fallen daughter of Eve encounters the risen seed of Eve. Mary, whose name means rebellion, has turned away from her rebellion. She is the first to see the promised Son who has crushed the serpent’s head; whose heel was bruised and yet He lives. Jesus is the Tree of Life. Where Eve gave the fruit to Adam, now Mary brings the Good News to Peter and the other disciples.

In this beautiful moment, all of history comes full circle.

Making all things new

Jesus’ first resurrected act was to set aside the veil covering His face (think of Moses and the veil that hid the glory of God shining on his face). His first resurrected interaction with humanity is to welcome the new Eve into the new Eden, telling her to bring the new fruit to the new Adam, so the whole world can finally eat of the ancient tree of everlasting life.

So what are the failed and fallen areas of your life? Jesus is the master gardener and on Resurrection Sunday, He showed that He truly is restoring all things for those who trust Him.

The gardener is still writing His story of healing and redemption. As we celebrate His death, burial, and resurrection, why not ask Him what He wants to write about you—what old burdens and wounds that you carry is He lingering to lift from your shoulders? The gardener has not forgotten; not where the story began, and not one individual along the way.

Truly, we are the people of the Good News.