Two Gardens, One Question

In the garden of Gethsemane, when Judas led the  temple guards to capture Jesus in the dark, He asked them, “Whom are you seeking?” (John 18:4).  When they answered Jesus of Nazareth, he simply stated “I am”, the Old Testament name of God, the one reference point for all the universe.  Blasphemy, unless it was true.  This is the turning point of the story, the beginning of the long road through torture and death.  A question, a choice, a probe of the heart, the motives.

Three days later, in the gardens around the tomb, Jesus asks Mary “Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:15).  She also pleads for the physical body of Jesus, willing to carry him, not to mock trials and beating but to safety and embalming.  This time Jesus does not declare His identity, he simply says “Mary.”  In His voice, his commanding tenderness, His calling out to her, she recognizes Him.  

Jesus does not ride triumphantly through the streets after His resurrection, He comes quietly, in closed rooms, along the road, in the early morning garden.  He does not lecture on His origins or His work, instead He asks:  Whom are you seeking?