The gardener was never there

We read in the Gospels that Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb early on the first day of the week following his crucifixion. When Mary arrived at the tomb, which, according to John’s account, was in a garden, she saw that the great stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. Upon entering the sepulcher, she found that Jesus’ body was not there.

She ran to tell the disciples. Peter and another disciple came, verified that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb, and then left. Mary stayed at the sepulcher and wept.

John then reports that Mary saw two angels in the tomb. After talking with them, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there – but thought he was the gardener. Only when Jesus called her by name did she recognize him: “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master” (see John 20:1-16).

Even though Mary had been a follower of Jesus for some time, she didn’t recognize him at first. Because she was convinced that Jesus was dead and his body missing, she saw instead a man she believed to be the gardener. She even engaged with this “gardener,” asking him where Jesus’ body had been taken.

But the gardener was never there. And when Christ Jesus spoke to Mary, she realized that the man she saw and spoke with was actually Jesus, who had been there with her all along.

Similarly, in Christian Science healing, right where either we ourselves or a patient we are praying for appears to be suffering, the harmonious child of God is present instead. When we respond in prayer to Christ, Truth, which Jesus exemplified, we see the man that God, Spirit, has created. This causes the real man – the true, spiritual identity of each one of us – to be recognized and acknowledged as the only one present. And this change in consciousness has a healing effect.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, states it this way in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”: “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick” (pp. 476-477).

So how do we go about beholding the perfect man – the real man – instead of a suffering mortal?

First, we must seek our Father and His Christ. We must turn to God, expecting help. We start with God, the only cause and creator, and seek to understand what is true about God and His creation. The truth is that God has made all that is made, and it is “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Furthermore, God is all power, all-loving, and ever present. Holding to these fundamental, unchangeable spiritual facts through Science frees us to behold the harmonious man of God’s creating.

That the correct view of God and man heals the sick has been proven many times in my experience. For instance, years ago, when our daughter was very small, she was having trouble hearing. My wife wanted to take her to a doctor. A medical specialist called for an operation on both of our daughter’s ears to correct the condition. But after considering this, my wife and I told the doctor that we wanted to rely on Christian Science, since we had found this kind of treatment to be consistently effective. He was fine with that but advised that it should be taken care of sooner than later.

In my prayers, I gratefully rejoiced in the fact that, despite appearances, our daughter was a complete, whole, spiritual, perfectly functioning idea of God, infinite Mind, and that knowing this truth would bring healing.

Within a day or two, our daughter was hearing perfectly, and she has done so ever since. The true idea was seen and demonstrated right where the false appeared to be.

Just as it had always been Jesus standing there in front of Mary, the only real man, woman, or child in front of us is the likeness of God, the perfect expression of God’s being. We need only turn humbly and steadfastly to God and acknowledge His ever-presence and all-power.

It is Christ, Truth, that enables us to see God’s creation – perfect and complete – right where a discordant mortal seems to be, and when we do, it invariably has a healing impact.

Adapted from an article published in the Feb. 10, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.