by Stuart H Gray
In one account, Jesus tells Mary Magdelene she is not allowed to touch him. Yet in another, he allows the group of women to clasp his feet. This sounds like it might be a contradiction between the texts. Why would the group be allowed to touch him while Mary is prohibited from doing so?
Matthew’s account:
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly, Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’” (Matthew 28:8 – 10, NIV)
John’s account:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:16 – 17, NIV)
Assessing the Accounts
John has Jesus saying to Mary Magdalene explicitly not to hold on to him. Matthew, on the other hand, has the women on the road grasping hold of Jesus. He does not apparently discourage them from doing so. This seems odd. Is there a contradiction between these accounts? Are they presenting Jesus in two incompatible ways?
When I was a child, I remember reading the account in John. I wondered whether there was some mystical reason why Mary wasn’t allowed to touch Jesus. “Perhaps she would contaminate him in some way?” I wondered. He’s not been back upstairs yet to heaven. Perhaps he doesn’t want to get muddy paw prints on himself before he returns?
It might have helped if I had just continued and read on a few more verses. From verse 19, John recounts two further incidents. They both sound like Matthew’s account where the women grasp hold of Jesus feet. In Jn. 20:19 – 23, Jesus comes and physically stands amongst the disciple group. They were behind a locked door, presumably in Bethany. John says that “he showed them his hands and side.” (Jn 20:20, NIV) He seems very willing to give them physical access to his scars at this point. He lets them get close and presumably to handle him. Also, a week later, he encourages the skeptical Thomas to, “put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20: 27, NIV) These verses highlight the truly physical nature of the resurrected Jesus. He wasn’t a vision, or an immaterial ghost. He was tangible, physical, and real.
So how do we deal with Jesus’ apparently contradictory words to Mary? He seems to say to her that she must not hold onto him. Or does he?
Perhaps He is Talking About Mary’s Emotional Attachment to Him
Why would Jesus command Mary this way? I am not exactly sure, but I would like to propose one possible interpretation. And then I would also like to discuss another from theologian John Wenham. It could be we are misunderstanding what Jesus is saying to Mary in this passage.
If we look again, he is telling Mary that he must ascend to the Father:
“Jesus said, “‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” (Jn. 20:17, NIV)
We know from subsequent accounts that Jesus does finally ascend 40 days later. This is described in Lk. 24:51 and Acts 1:9. One result of his ascension is that his friends can no longer physically see and interact with him anymore.
Back to Mary Magdalene. She and Jesus have been together in their group every day for three years. But a time is coming soon when things will change. She won’t live with him like that anymore. Maybe Jesus’ words address the coming change for Mary. What Jesus is doing is to begin preparing her for his departure. She needs to begin to let him go on an emotional level. Because soon, he will ascend.
Jesus does promise that God will send his Holy Spirit to come and live inside of them. (Acts 1:5) But this will be a very different thing for his friends. It won’t be like them all living life together on the road.
A second possible interpretation of Jn. 20:17 is suggested by John Wenham. When Jesus died, Mary thought she had lost him. Now unexpectedly she has received him back again. Yet tragically, Jesus is warning her that he won’t be here for long. Because Mary knows Jesus will soon ascend to the father, she cannot bear to physically let him go. Perhaps Jesus is reassuring her that it is okay for her to let him go. She should run and tell her friends that he is alive. He won’t vanish on her right away. She will see him again before his final ascension happens.[1]
Conclusion
On reflection then, we can say this. There are two accounts of Sunday morning meetings of Jesus. They occur in John and Matthew’s gospels. Mary Magdalene is first to meet him, and the women group meet him later. We discussed that here. These are both physical encounters with the risen Christ.
Jesus has a particular message for Mary Magdalene. We need to consider the emotional attachment Mary may have had to Jesus. She hugs her Lord Jesus. He simply warns her that she needs to begin to let him go at an emotional level. That may explain Jesus’ warning for Mary not to cling onto him. Alternatively, he is telling her to leave, but she will see him again soon.
Understood one of these ways helps us. John’s accounts aligns well with the encounter of the women on the road described by Matthew.
[1] John Wenham, Easter Enigma Are the Resurrection Stories in Conflict?, (Exeter:Paternoster Press, 1984), 95.
