Bible Reading: Leviticus 1; Proverbs 17; John 20; Philippians 4
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after the resurrection.
Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
She did not recognize him at first but thought him to be the gardener. I suppose mistaking the One who planted the Garden of Eden as the Gardener is a legitimate mistake! When Jesus spoke her name, she recognized him. Then he instructed her not to touch him. His reason was that he was yet ascended to his Father. This is interesting in light of the fact that a little over a week later, Jesus is going to tell Thomas to touch him.
John 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Why would Jesus tell Mary not to touch him? Was his transformed body so holy that he would be defiled? Was he not yet finished with his transformation and for her to touch him would have interrupted the process? I think the answer is more practical than all that. Jesus knew Mary. She was unbelievably grateful for what Jesus had done for her. She wanted to worship him and adore him. She would have fastened (that is one of the meanings of the Greek word translated 'touch') onto him and held him because she did not want to let him go.
We all have times like that. We have times when we just want to sit in the presence of Jesus and worship him. That is a good thing! It is a great thing! However, Jesus had a mission for her. She would have time to spend with him later. He was not ascended to his Father yet. It would be forty days before he would ascend on the Mount of Olives. He needed her to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive. He needed her to be a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As followers of Jesus there is always the desire to stay and worship when we must go and tell. The thing we must remember is that being a witness is worship. To sit at the feet of Jesus and learn and adore him is good. However, there are times when he instructs us like he did Mary. Go…
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Jesus is not calling us to either / or. He is calling us to both / and. Stay and worship and go and tell.
In Christ,
Rody
