Supposing Him to be the Gardener

In the last week of Jesus Christ’s life before He was crucified, He went into the temple in Jerusalem, as Malachi foretold, cleansing it and casting out the money-changers.

Presenting Himself as the priest, Christ temporarily restored the temple back to God’s intended purpose for it, teaching in it daily, as Luke 19:47 reports.

“Not only is He the king and the priest, but He’s also the prophet of Israel,” explains Jordan. “He’s the ‘interpreter of the ways of God,’ as G. Campbell Morgan once said. He’s teaching in the temple and the people hear Him, and this extends to the last day of His life.

“Luke 21:37 says, ‘And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.’

“From this, we know Christ didn’t spend His nights in Jerusalem, but went outside the city up on the Mount of Olives and slept under the stars.

“The point is there’s no place for Him; not in the beginning of His life in Bethlehem and not in the end. Jerusalem has rejected Him and He leaves the city, understanding He’s been rejected.

“The leadership of the nation has rejected Him so finally He withdraws Himself from public preaching to the masses and educates only His disciples for the ministry they’re going to have after He’s gone. He instructs them, ‘Don’t go tell them I’m the Christ.’ It’s that withdrawal stage.

*****

“In Luke 20, Christ, knowing He’s about ready to go to the Cross, brings out the final issues with the leaders of Israel.

“There’s a back and forth where they question Him and He answers them, and they question Him some more and He answers them and they try to trick Him and He’s not tricked. At the end of the chapter, you see He turns around and asks them one question, and then they’re afraid to talk to Him anymore. What He’s doing is pressing the final point.”

“Luke 20:1-8 says, “And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
[2] And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?
[3] And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:
[4] The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
[5] And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
[6] But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
[7] And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.
[8] And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.”

“The chief priests, scribes and elders had been questioning Him, and He responded to them about His authority, demonstrating they weren’t sincere. He then asked them about where did John get his authority, and His point was obvious. Then they wanted to know by what authority He was doing what He was doing, teaching in the temple.

“And He says, ‘Where did John get his authority?’ John, of course, was the one who witnessed of Him; ‘he bore witness to the truth’ and identified Christ as the Messiah, and he was not relying on his own personal claim—he relied upon the witness God the Father gave him through others.

“Well, they wouldn’t answer Him, thinking, ‘Well, if we say, [From God,] He’s going to say, [Why didn’t you believe him?] and if we say, [Well, John didn’t get his authority from God], the people think John’s a prophet and they’ll get mad at us,’ so they took the dodge and said, ‘We can’t tell.’

“By the way, that’s the academic approach of scholarship and these were the scholars in the nation. There’s this professional courtesy among religious academics that says you can sit around the table, and you can have your convictions, but everyone else has their own tradition so, ‘We just really don’t know for sure what’s right. We just all agree we’re sitting at the table.’ I’ve been in those meetings. That’s one of the reason I don’t go to them. It drives me nuts to be in a crowd like that.

“So now Christ’s going to turn to the people. And He spoke to them the parable: ‘a certain man planted a vineyard.’ He’s going to trace the history of Israel and then He’s going to talk about the fact that some people are going to try to kill Him and will succeed, but it’s going to wind up being their ruin.”

*****

In Jesus’ day, the Garden of Gethsemane, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, was sought by citizens of Jerusalem for rest and relief from the sun.

The same author and composer of the classic hymn Dwelling in Beulah Land (“I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky”), Charles Austin Miles (1868-1946), is responsible for one of the greatest gospel hymns of all time, In the Garden.

According to Helen Salem Rizk’s 1964 book Stories of the Christian Hymns, Miles was asked in 1912 to “write a hymn poem that would ‘breathe tenderness’ and bring hope and rest for the weary.”; Miles visualizing Mary Magdalene at the Garden brought forth the words:

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known


He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known