Sermon - Good Friday 2021

 “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden.” The story which began in a garden here comes to its completion in a garden. In the first garden, the first Adam was overcome by Satan into death, and in the second garden Satan has been overcome by the second Adam, Christ, by death. In a garden all were created and died, and in a garden one died so that all would be recreated.

The Garden of Eden was to be like a botanical nursery. Not a nursery just for plants, but a nursery for man. In this nursery man would be nourished and watered, fed by the hand of God from the very tree of life. Once man had lived, grown, and matured in this nursery, God would transplant man to the garden of heaven. Like Enoch and Elijah, man wouldn’t have died but simply been taken from the nursery of Eden to the garden of heaven. 

But an Evil entered into that garden. Satan, the deceiver and murderer of the world, that ancient dragon, disguised himself as an angel of light, like a simple serpent in the garden. From his lips flowed lies into the ears of Adam and Eve. Man disbelieved God and distrusted God’s Word, and attempted to make humans gods in God’s place. Man was tempted and fell.

In the garden the curse descended upon every man, woman, and child: “dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.” The garden was no longer readily fruitful, but the fruit was diminished and thorns sprang up in its place. Toil and hardship, enmity and strife decimated the garden of Eden. Yet, in the garden, a glimmer of hope shone forth: the offspring of Satan and the offspring of Eve wouldn’t get along. Indeed, One would rise up from the womb of Eve to be bruised by Satan but crush the devil’s head!

Thus enters Jesus! “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.” In this Garden of Gethsemane, where the oil from the Mount of Olives would’ve been tread out, Jesus was trampled on by man. Satan had entered into Judas, just like he had done with the snake, and once again from his lips spoke softly and smoothly, yet with intent of deceit and murder. Here in this Garden the Son of Man appeared to be bested again by the Devil.

Jesus was led from the Garden of Gethsemane to a different garden: a garden of death. His body was hung upon a tree in that garden, bloodied and bruised, where God died. “So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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.” Into the garden of the tomb Jesus was planted.

But Jesus, like a dry little seed that looks dead, He burst forth from the ground, from the tomb, alive! The death and burial of Jesus in the garden was no more than a bruise in Jesus’ heel. For by this death Christ overcame our ancient foe and crushed the serpent’s head! By His death and three day rest in the tomb, Jesus removed the curse from man which persisted from Adam until today. The curse is removed, sin is forgiven, Satan is crushed, and the earth is once again a fruitful garden and nursery for man.

The Garden of Eden, and the tree of life, had been blocked by God to Adam and Eve and all their descendents, since the Savior had not yet come. But the Tree of Life is once again available to all, and this Tree of Life is the cross from which Christ hung and shed His life-giving blood. The fruit of this Tree of Life is Jesus who feeds us from Himself so that we may live, grow, and mature in order that God may transplant us into the eternal garden of heaven.

So now we with Christ, like dried up little seeds, are laid into the tomb in the garden. For Christians the cemetery is no different than a garden, planted with the seeds of the saints. Like Jesus, when our three day rest has ended and that great Spring arrives at the last, we shall burst forth from the ground alive to be transplanted into an even greater garden.