At the end of chapter 20, John wrote a most caring and loving sentence. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

What a wonderful thought. To think that all those years ago John wrote his Gospel with the singular purpose of sharing Jesus with everyone and anyone. The story is important, the witness is vital, but the heart of it is salvation, that you may have life in his name.

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This morning I had the blessing to preach at Bok Tower’s Sunrise Easter service. It was great for that service to be back. It was wonderful to be there in the still of the morning, with the sun coming up and all its natural beauty stirring to greet the new day; the trees, the flowers, the greenery, the birds and animals, even the insects. It is all so very, very beautiful. And it isn’t just nature alone. Florida woods have their beauty, but this is quite different.

A garden, any garden, is a fusion of natural and human design, where nature and humanity come together. And this isn’t just any garden. Edward Bok had a vision. He wanted to thank this great nation for all the opportunity it had given him by creating a place of exquisite beauty. He hired the best people he could find to make it real. They cleared away a lot and brought in a lot. They enhanced the native trees and plants with new plants and flowers. They designed the paths winding through them to encourage pauses to absorb the beauty. Those gardens have been carefully maintained, refreshed and renewed by gifted horticulturalists and grounds crew ever since.

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Early in Jesus’ ministry he preached at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. He read a passage from Isiah which began with these verses:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

to comfort all who mourn’ (Isaiah 61:1-2)

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