Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 20:15

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." — John 20:15 (ASV)

Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Did it occur to her that, possibly, the gardener objected to having a corpse in the garden, and that, therefore, he had come early in the morning, and taken it away? We can hardly imagine what she did think; but when people are in great grief, they often think a great many things which they would not think if they were quite in their right minds. What strange delusions, what singular chimeras of monstrous shape will pass through the heart of grief! God help us to be clear-minded, and not to think what we should not like to say!

Still, Mary was a brave woman, for she said to the gardener, "Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."

Jesus says to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, says to him, Sir, if you have carried him from here, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

Her supposition was wrong in one way, but right in another, for Jesus is the Gardener, and his Church is his garden. There was one gardener in whom we fell; here is another and a better Gardener in whom we rise. It is he, and he alone, who can properly tend all the plants of his Father's right-hand planting. He is the Gardener, though not the one that Mary supposed, but what a strange request this was for her to make: "If you have carried him from here, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Could she have carried away the body of Jesus if it had been there?

If so, what a ghastly load for her tender frame to bear! Yes, but she would have done it somehow or other; for, if faith laughs at impossibilities, and cries, "It shall be done," it is love that actually does the deed of holy daring. The task that seems nearly impossible is readily performed when the spirit is invigorated by love.