I was sitting about a fortnight ago, in a very lovely garden,
in the midst of all kinds of flowers which were blooming in delightful abundance
all around. Screening myself from the heat of the sun under the overhanging
boughs of an olive tree, I cast my eyes upon palms and bananas, roses and
camellias, oranges and aloes, lavender and heliotrope.
The garden was full of
color and beauty, perfume and fruitfulness. Surely the gardener, whoever he
might be, who had framed, and fashioned, and kept in order that lovely spot,
deserved great commendation. So I thought, and then it came to me to meditate
upon the church of God as a garden, and to suppose the Lord Jesus to be the
gardener, and then to think of what would most assuredly happen if it were
so. "Supposing him to be the gardener," my mind conceived of a paradise where
all sweet things flourish and all evil things are rooted up.
If an ordinary
worker had produce such beauty as I then saw and enjoyed on earth, what bounty
and glory must surely be brought forth "supposing him to be the
gardener"! You know the "him" to whom we refer, the ever-blessed Son or God,
whom Mary Magdalene in our text mistook for the gardener. We will for once
follow a saint in her mistaken track; and yet we shall find ourselves going in a
right way. She was mistaken when she fell into "supposing him to be the
gardener"; but if we are under his Spirit’s teaching we shall not make a mistake
if now we indulge ourselves in a quiet meditation upon our ever- blessed Lord,
supposing him to be the gardener.
[Charles H. Spurgeon]
✞ ✞ ✞
John 20:15 ... Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Isaiah 60:21 ... Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
John 15:2 ... Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Isaiah 27:2-3 ... In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. ❤
Isaiah 27:2-3 ... In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. ❤
