Where there was a garden

We are not proposing here a commentary or a way of reading a passage from the Gospel but rather showing that the reading of the Jewish tradition alongside the New testament can enrich our understanding of well known texts.

A tradition that is attested to in numerous rabbinic sources details, hour by hour, the creation of man on the sixth day, sin, judgment and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden:

"On the first day of Tishri, man was created. At the first hour, he came to the mind of God; at the second, God sought counsel with the angels, at the third, He kneaded him; at the fourth, He fashioned him; at the fifth, He gave him form; at the sixth, He breathed in his soul; at the seventh, He set him on his feet; at the eighth, He set him in the Garden of Eden; at the ninth, He gave him the commandment; at the tenth, the man transgressed the commandment; at the eleventh, God judged him; at the twelfth, He pardoned him" (quoted from Leviticus Rabba 29:1).

In what follows in the midrash, a link is established between the pardon accorded to the first man and the pardon that must be sought by his descendants. In the Jewish liturgical calendar, the first days of the month of Tishri initiate the period of the Ten Days of Penitence that conclude with the pardon accorded on Yom Kippur.

A variant text, attested to in two other sources, leads to a different perspective in order to underline that the grace accorded the first man preceded immediately the arrival of the Sabbath. This commentary includes the first words of Psalm 92: "A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day":

"… at the tenth, he sinned; at the eleventh, he was judged; at the twelfth, he was expelled. God was about to pronounce sentence, when the Sabbath entered… and became his advocate. He said before the Holy one Blessed be He: "Master of the Worlds, during six days of creation, no one was ever condemned and now you begin with me? This is my holiness? This is my rest?" For the sake of the Sabbath, man was saved from condemnation to Hell. When he saw the power of the Sabbath, man wanted to chant a hymn in its honor. Sabbath then said to him: "You want to chant a hymn to me? Me and you, we will chant a hymn to the Holy One Blessed be Him". That is why it is written: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord" (Psalm 92:2)" (Midrash Psalms 92:3).

The response of the Sabbath is incomprehensible if we do not remember that the first two verses of the Psalm are: "A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord" (Psalm 92:1-2). According to the midrash, the man first says: "A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day" – meaning: a song of glory to honor the Sabbath, who has saved my life. The Sabbath refuses the honor that the man wants to render him and corrects him saying: you and I, we must sing rather a song to God: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord"

It is useless to try and date this story. The sources that cite it are late but the question of the age of traditions must be complete separated from the attempt to date the sources that quote the traditions. Here we limit our objective to simply bringing two traditions into proximity, an exercise not without interest.

The narrative of the passion of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel begins and ends in a garden: "There was a garden, which he and his disciples entered" (John 18:1); "Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there" (John 19:41-42). The passion of Jesus then begins and ends in a garden. It is not important for our discussion whether the garden in these two passages was actually the same garden or not.

From the garden which he enters, Jesus is quickly expelled (18:12-13) in order to be judged and condemned. His fate then, at first view, is that of the first man. However, this analogy only makes even more meaningful the fundamental differences that distinguish the two situations. The first of these differences is clearly that Jesus is innocent. It is not necessary to emphasize this point, which is at the heart of the Christian tradition: the innocent one takes upon himself the punishment that was meant for those who are guilty. Jesus – and this is the second difference – was put to death whereas the first man benefitted from a degree of grace. However, the first Adam was both pardoned and expelled so that he experienced his first Sabbath outside of the Garden of Eden. The Talmud quotes in this connection Psalm 49:12 "Mortals cannot abide in their pomp" explaining that man did not spend even one night in honor (cf bSanhedrin 38b), Jesus, for his part, is put to death, and then brought back into the garden before Sabbath. In Jesus, as a result, man is reintegrated into the garden before the arrival of the Sabbath. Jesus is both the Sabbath, thanks to which man is saved, as well as the one who introduces the pardoned sinner into his rest, a rest forbidden to sinners (cf. psalm 95:11) but which remains the object of hope for the believer (Hebrews 4:8-11).

Before ending this brief chapter, lets us take up a passage from the Gospel of Luke which contains an analogous lesson, expressed in different terms. To the sinner who is crucified with him, Jesus announces: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43), meaning of course in the garden (paradeisos). Thus the first man who was expelled the sixth day and the pardoned sinner is reintegrated, with Jesus, before the Sabbath.

(For the detailed notes see the French version)