December 21,2025 Grounded and Growing: The Loving Gardener | Isaiah 37:26-32; Psalm 36:5-12; Matthew 1

Today we will reflect on Isaiah 37:26-32; Psalm 36:5-12; Matthew 1, The Loving Gardener. For plants to truly flourish and for there to be an abundant harvest, the gardener or farmer needs to carefully tend to them. Whether it’s a few plants on a patio, a back yard vegetable garden, or acres of corn, for plants to thrive, someone needs to care about their health: make sure the conditions are right and that there aren’t weeds competing with them for nutrients and water. In scripture, God is the loving gardener. It is God who carefully watches and tends our souls to make sure the harvest is plentiful, and scripture shows that God has been doing this for generations: “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above” (Isaiah 37:31 ).

Transcript

The Loving Gardener

Isaiah 37:26-32, Psalm 36:5-12, Matthew 1

Our passage this morning from Isaiah 37 is part of King Hezekiah’s story found in 2 Kings 18-20. Hezekiah is known as a good king, leading the people of Judah back to God, destroying the idols and their worship places in the mountains. But Hezekiah was also king during a really difficult time, a time when the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes of Israel disappears from history as the King Sennacherib of Assyria conquers them and disperses the people throughout his empire. Sennacherib then turns his sights onto Judah, mocking them, demanding tribute, which Hezekiah pays by stripping the gold off the doors and doorposts of the temple. Yet this doesn’t satisfy Sennacherib, bullies are never satisfied and always seek to humiliate their victims more, but then the Lord steps in with messages for both Sennacherib and Hezekiah. You can read this passage in context in 2 Kings 19 as well.

The Lord tells Sennacherib, “Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. “But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.” Sennacherib’s strength has come from the Lord, and he’s looking to deal with Judah like he did with the northern kingdom, to conquer and disperse the people of Judah so they’ll disappear from history, but the Lord is also going to deal with his arrogance. This is a warning that God is in control, not him. God will send him home, led away like a bull with a hook in its nose, or like a horse with a bit in its mouth. The bull and horse are powerful creatures, but are still easily led about with small pieces of metal. 

The Lord has a message of hope for Hezekiah, “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Here we get a glimpse of God as the loving gardener of his people. This is a word of hope and restoration. There’s only a remnant left from the original people of God, the 10 tribes are gone and now Judah’s under threat; they’re like the grass scorched before it grows. The grass may be scorched, but its roots are still rooted in the soil, and God is watching over and tending to his people, ensuring that they will not be completely destroyed, a remnant will remain to grow once again. This is often called “remnant theology;” where “a portion of people are left after a disaster, especially a disaster identified with divine judgment. Especially in the Prophets, this term describes those who remain faithful to God despite suffering and who ultimately experience restoration.” 

Scripture often uses agricultural and farming images to describe the Lord’s relationship with his people. The first garden in the Bible is in Eden, a garden planted by God and then given over to Adam and Eve to care for, and cultivate. In the Garden of Eden, every need of Adam and Eve are met, revealing the nurturing side of God, and his provision and care for his children. This becomes one of the main themes that runs through the whole of Scripture: God provides. Yet this isn’t enough for Adam and Eve and they choose disobedience to God in a desire to be like God, something that has been passed on to each of us now, which is why we celebrate Christmas and the coming to earth of Jesus, son of God, saviour of humanity and creation. Jesus comes to overturn the power of death by dying and then rising from the dead 3 days later, washing away our sin and disobedience, restoring our relationship with God, our father and creator. God provides for our redemption through Jesus! This is why gardening in the Bible also represents hope and resilience. Even during times of exile, God tells his people to plant and cultivate, telling the people through the prophets that nurturing life is an act of faith and trust in God's provision. This theme is echoed in various scriptures, where gardens symbolize places of peace, meeting, and spiritual growth.

In creation, God places in the order and structure of creation the process for how plants and animals are nourished and grow, how they mature, die, and return to the soil again. God puts into place all the elements needed for creation to flourish, including humanity. For crops and plants to flourish so there are good harvests, the gardener or farmer needs to carefully care for them. Whether it's a few plants on a patio, a back yard vegetable garden, or acres of corn or grain, for plants to thrive someone needs to care for their health: making sure the conditions are right and that there aren’t weeds competing with them for nutrients and water. 

This isn’t something that’s done only when the person, whether the farmer or gardener feels like it; it requires dedication and regular hard work, in some cases for years, before the fruit is seen. For fruit trees and vines to continue to produce every year, they need ongoing care, proper pruning, attention to the weather patterns, and care for the soil. Treated right, these trees and vines can thrive for generations, as you see in vineyards in Israel and Europe. To commit to something long term like this takes love for farming and gardening, for creation. Farmers and gardeners pour themselves into their work, their energy, sweat, tears, hopes, and prayers go into the plants and crops they plant and take care of, knowing that ultimately, they need to trust the Lord for the right balance of rain and sun at the proper times for their harvest to flourish. 

Gardening and farming are hard work since the fall into sin. Nature itself was impacted by Adam and Eve’s disobedience. God tells Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” God’s promise of a Messiah, Jesus, meant that God committed himself to his plan of redemption and a relationship with humanity, nurturing them in order to bring Jesus into our world to become both fully human and fully God in order to overturn the curse of sin. God became a gardener of our souls. 

God carefully watches over and tends our souls to make sure the harvest is plentiful, and scripture shows that God has been doing this for generations: “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.” Matthew 1 shows us that God’s carefully cared for remnant continued from generation to generation and that God cultivated each generation, making sure that one day Christ, the first fruit, would be born. Even though there were times when all a person could see was a stump, God kept nurturing the roots of the stump, preparing for the birth of a new shoot, of new life. The promise of the remnant bearing fruit is first fulfilled in Jesus’ birth, and even further fulfilled in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the people at Pentecost, birthing new life in many hearts that day, and is still today growing new life in people.

In Isaiah 5:1-7, God is pictured as the owner of a vineyard, expecting it to yield good fruit, which represents his call for his people to live righteously. When the vineyard produces wild grapes, it symbolizes Israel's unfaithfulness, highlighting the importance of bearing fruit in accordance with God's character. 

In the New Testament, this image of God as a gardener is developed more deeply in John 15, where Jesus tells his disciples, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener." Here, God is described as the vinedresser who prunes the branches so they’ll keep being fruitful. Jesus is emphasizing the need of remaining connected to him for their spiritual growth. This is how we grow to be more like Jesus, what we call sanctification. God is actively involved in the process of sanctification and nurturing believers to produce spiritual fruit through the Holy Spirit.

The image of God as the gardener in the Bible reveals deep truths about who he is, the importance of spiritual growth, and the relationship between God and us. It reminds us God is actively cultivating life and guiding creation to its complete redemption when Jesus returns to claim his us and renew us so we will flourish as his vineyard.