The Pinecone

Have you ever stopped to think how many important things in scripture take place in a garden? It all began in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve rebelled; through self-will they alienated themselves from the love of God. 

It was in the garden of Gethsemane that Jesus fought the greatest battle of his life. 

We have just celebrated Easter; it happened in a garden. Remember a part of the story. Mary was in that garden. She had come to that place, anxious and grieving. Her dreams and that of the small group of followers of Jesus–the dreams for a Messiah– were shattered in that garden.To intensify all those feelings of pain and despair, insult was added to injury. They discovered that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and the body of Jesus had been taken away. The disciples who were with Mary at the tomb that early morning had gone back home to nurse their pain and depression. 

Mary lingered in in the garden, outside the tomb. Weeping and not knowing what to do, she took another look into the tomb. And there, on the stone, where the body of Jesus had been laying, were seated angels who asked, “Woman, why are you weeping?” 

Can you feel the pain in her response? What pathos! “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 

And then it happened. She turned around and there was Jesus. At first she didn’t recognize him when he asked, , “Woman, why are you weeping; whom are you seeking?” 

We have celebrated Easter, but let’s not move away too quickly. Let’s focus on some learnings for us from Mary. First, she didn’t recognize Jesus for a very simple reason: her tears. 

She was crying so much that she was blinded. It happens to us, doesn’t it? Our tears often blind us to what’s going on around us. We miss the lessons life is trying to teach us because we are so preoccupied with our own pain and grief, our disappointment and defeat. 

Sometimes our tears are selfish. We center on our loss. We don’t put our situation in perspective. How often do we do this at the death of a loved one. Our loneliness and loss is intense. We weep for ourselves, not for the loved one who has gone to be the eternal guest of God. We can be blinded by our tears. 

But there’s another reason why Mary did not recognize Jesus: She was facing in the wrong direction. Not just her eyes, but her mind was on the tomb. 

We fall into that snare? We focus on our defeat and loss. Easter calls us to look in the direction of new life, and new possibility. 

Memory is such a valuable tool. Often, when I am having difficulty sleeping, in my mind I will sing a favroite hymn, or quote scripture. Recently, I was focusing on the 23rd Psalm and came to the finale which grabbed me more powerfully than ever, Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Thank you, Lord, for memory. The poet said God gave us memory that we might have roses in December. We don’t have to leave Easter behind. Sure, we have some painful memories, and we need to deal with them. But we can do so with the overarching promise of the Psalmist, Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

We don’t have to be blinded by our tears. An ongoing Easter-life calls us to look in the direction of new life, and new possibility. 

Three-year-old Ryan and his five-year-old sister were playing on the floor following a family dinner while the adults tried to have a conversation. Lisa opened her new toy nurse’s kit and convinced Ryan to be her patient. She took the little stethoscope and placed it on her brother’s heart, listened intently — as good nurses do. Suddenly she announced, “I hear somebody walking around in there.”

The adults smiled at this, but Ryan, matter-of-factly answered, “Why, that must be Jesus.”

That’s the amazing promise, and one of the central claims of the Christian Gospel — that Christ may live in us. Indeed that is Paul’s definition of a Christian. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (II Corinthians 5:17).

In Colossians 2: 6, Paul said, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in Him.” The King James Version has that, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Students of Pauline thought, are agreed that the phrase “In Christ” is the central category of Paul’s thinking. This phrase, “in Christ,” or “in Christ Jesus”, is used by Paul in his letters 169 times.

What does Paul mean by this vital image “in Christ”? It means one, a new status; two, a new style, and three, a new strength.

Persons who are in Christ are people in whom a new principle of life has been implanted. They are in Christ.

I think of that in two ways. First, from the perspective of what we might call imitation, then from the perspective of immersion.

By grace we are saved through faith.”

– Kevin De Young

We are in the Lenten Season, looking forward to Easter (Mar. 3l) I urge you to join me in being more intentional in imitating Jesus, walking in his style. But more, immerse yourself in Christ: renew your commitment to spiritual discipline…scripture reading, prayer, worship, spiritual conversation with people you know who are wanting to be “more like Jesus,”

As Christians, we are, in principle new persons in Christ., As we walk as Christ would have us walk, and immerse ourselves in Christ—that is surrender ourselves to His Spirit within, His grace will make us, in fact, the new persons we already are.