Day 5 – Gardens: Spiritual Growth through Golgotha

“Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” John 19:41 NKJV

In the beginning, God created a garden and it was tainted by sin. And at the beginning of a new era for humanity, Jesus was resurrected in a garden for our victory over sin. I believe Jesus was walking in the garden when Mary Magdalene mistook Him for the gardener of the place.

Though no name is mentioned for the garden, its proximity to Golgotha would have made it the garden of Golgotha. In those days, the poor of the Jewish community were buried in cemeteries called “bet kevarot” meaning the place of graves (Nehemia 2:3). But the wealthier members of the community were entombed and placed in family tombs called “bet hayyim” meaning the garden of life or “bet olam” meaning house of eternity (Ecclesiastics 12:5). According to Jewish tradition, these places were normally in gardens tended by the community under strict laws and even more sacred than a synagogue. Jesus’s temporary tomb in the garden not only brings to fulfilment the garden of creation but also points to the garden God has prepared for us for eternity. That is victory!

Because of His resurrection, He conquered death and took away its sting leading us to live victoriously today until we enter the garden of life. Do not allow the enemy to hold you in the death of your sin because your belief in Jesus’s resurrection is your witness to spread the Gospel to as many souls as you possibly can.

Prayer: Father, our eternal Gardener, thank You that Jesus’s resurrection took place in a garden and leads to the garden of life! Jesus, Your resurrection ensured victory for me too and I can walk in this victory today praising Your Name and worshipping the Life-giver. No words known to me can ever express my gratitude but through the song of my heart, I thank You and I love You, Jesus, in whose Name I pray. Amen.