John 19:41-42 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.… (Text, and John 20:15): — I. THE SEED. 1. All seed does not germinate, and seeds, in themselves, are worthless unless they are fecundated. Cut open a seed-bearing flower, and in its axis you will find a seed-pod, from which grows an elongated stem called the pistil. On the end of this pistil is a little tongue, or stigma. This, of all the parts of the flower or plant, alone has no skin. About the pistil are the stamens, on the top of which are the anthers, or pollen-bearing organs of the flower. This pollen must fall upon the stigma which thus receives the fecundating principle, and transmits it to the seeds; and so they are quickened into life. In many trees this pollen is produced not on themselves, but on other trees belonging to the same species, and it is carried to the stigma of the blossoms to be fecundated by the wind or the bees. 2. The same principle, the Gardener tells us, prevails among His plants; there must be an extra-human quality imparted to every one of His seeds before they are planted or they cannot bloom immortally. That quality was produced by that which was planted in the dust of the earth in Joseph's garden and became "the first fruits from the dead." The reason why he Son of God was incarnated, died, was buried and rose again was that He might produce this Divine — pollen (may I term it?), so that His seeds might receive that fecundating principle which quickens to an immortal life. It is scattered like the natural pollen — broadcast on the breezes, so that all who will may receive it and live again; or it is carried about by the busyness of Christian workers. 3. But you cannot be planted, with a hope of the glorious resurrection, unless you have received this fecundating principle from Christ; otherwise you must there remain, sterile and dried, unable to rise in a new life. This is one of the fixed laws of nature. Why should we not expect the same in grace? "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live." But believing is only receiving this Divine quality from Christ, as the stigma of the seed-pod receives the pollen, to quicken and give it life. II. THE SOWING. For in the Lord's garden what we call burying is only planting; for the Apostle says, "If we be planted in the likeness of His death," &c. III. THE BLOOMING. 1. Are we to be different? Hear the Apostle, "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; it is," &c. Our God doeth great things which we cannot comprehend. Who can understand the change wrought under ground which gives us a plant for our seed. (1) Here we are, dried and shriveled. Sin has stripped us, yet is there great latent power for beauty, &c. (2) Here there is no sweetness about us. Such is the wonderful alchemy of nature that the seed that rots sends up a flower rich in fragrance. More wonderful is the alchemy of grace, &c. (3) Here there is no beauty about us, we are frost-marked. The Lord will not do half-work. He will not repair, but recreate, &c. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be," &c. Who can guess by looking at the shriveled seed what the flower will be? 2. Shall we, then, fear to be planted in His garden, if we shall so soon rise to such life and beauty and sweetness? Conclusion: Let us walk with the Gardener while He points out to us some of His rarer plants. He points to this bed and says, "There rests a precious seed, oh, how lovely will its blooming be! On earth it was called Bleeding Heart. It grew in great tribulation." "And what lies here in this bed, Gardener?" "You would call that, in earth's botany, a Heliotrope — the flower that ever turns toward the sun. And there lies the Lily of the Valley, &c. And there the Calla, whose roots had to be submerged in water," &c. "But," we ask, "Gardener, canst Thou care for all these? Will there be no confusion or neglect? Thy flowerbeds are so many, is there no possibility that some will be overlooked?" "Oh, no," He answers; "their names are all graven on the palms of My hands, and are written also in the Book of Life." Oh blessed truth! What flowers shall spring up from these grassy mounds! (P. E. Kipp.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. |
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