At college, we have been considering how other people's interpretations of the Bible affect our own. This involved looking at some works of art, and considering whether we understood texts differently afterwards. I think I didn't—though some of the ideas were very interesting.
One passage we looked at was after the resurrection, when the women found the empty tomb, and Mary (his friend, not his mother) sees Jesus but thinks he is the gardener. Some paintings showed Jesus shying away as she tried to touch his clothes—emphasizing that he told Mary not to touch him.
Some depicted Jesus wearing gardener clothes, to try and explain why Mary confused him with the gardener. I have never personally imagined Jesus in a floppy gardeners hat, or carrying a spade, but I guess it's one possible reason why Mary was initially confused.
As someone pointed out, Jesus rose physically (his body got up again) and the grave clothes (which is what he was dressed in) were found folded in the tomb. So, what was he wearing? Did he leave the tomb naked? (Not something mentioned at Sunday School). Did he perhaps borrow the gardeners clothes, thus confusing Mary? I guess it's possible.
(Jesus is holding a gardener's spade. And has no clothes.)
Jacopo di Cione ca.1368
(Jesus is holding a gardener's axe.)
Jesus appearing to the Magdalene
by Fra Angelico
(Jesus is shown holding a gardener's axe, and is avoiding her hand.)
The thing is, I don't think what physically happened at the resurrection is discussed much. We consider the theology of the situation-- why did Jesus die and rise again? What difference did it make to our relationship with God? And we talk about the reaction to the resurrection, that his disciples changed and stopped hiding after they saw him. But as to what happened physically? That's not something I have thought about. A man's body is a big thing to hide, so where did Jesus go between rising and seeing people? And why could people not touch him, when he touched things like bread and ate it? Would touching him have affected Jesus, or affected the people?
Something for you to think about. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading.
Love, Anne x
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