FIRST AND SECOND APPEARANCES OF THE RISEN CHRIST. THE RESURRECTION REPORTED TO THE APOSTLES
(Jerusalem. Sunday morning.)
MATT. 28:9, 10
MARK 16:9-11
LUKE 24:9-11
JOHN 20:11-18
My summary: Mary stoops to look into the tomb and sees two angels:
"But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping: so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." John 11-12
Then Jesus appears to her:
"Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." John 17
"Touch me not (μή μοῦ ἅπτου)
The verb, primarily, means to fasten to. Hence it implies here, not a mere momentary touch, but a clinging to. Mary thought that the old relations between her Lord and herself were to be renewed; that the old intercourse, by means of sight, sound, and touch, would go on as before. Christ says, “the time for this kind of intercourse is over. Henceforth your communion with me will be by faith through the Spirit. This communion will become possible through my ascending to the Father.” -Vincent's Word Studies
Alexander MacLaren approaches this portion of scripture with a generous spirit that seeks to grasp the global significance and context more than nit-pick the details:
"The variation in their numbers in the various narratives is not to be regarded as an instance of ‘discrepancy.’ Many angels hovered round the spot where the greatest wonder of the universe was to be seen, ‘eagerly desiring to look into’ that grave. The beholder’s eye may have determined their visibility. Their number may have fluctuated. Mark does not use the word ‘angel’ at all, but leaves us to infer what manner of being he was who first proclaimed the Resurrection." -MacLaren
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| Mary Magdalene Questions the Angels in the Tomb, James Tissot |
"This passage is one of well-known difficulty, and Meyer or Ryle may be consulted by those wishing to see how various commentators have interpreted it. We would explain it by the following paraphrase: "Do not lay hold on me and detain yourself and me; I have not yet ascended; this is no brief, passing vision; I am yet in the world, and will be for some time, and there will be other opportunities to see me; the duty of the moment is to go and tell my sorrowing disciples that I have risen, and shall ascend to my Father." -Fourfold
"Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me."and [they] told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.
"The repetition may be due to the reticence of the women remarked by Mark in the last section by the key words "and they said nothing to any one." The women may have been hesitating whether they should tell the disciples. Thus Jesus reiterates the instruction already given by the angel. This is the first time the word "brethren" is applied by our Lord to his disciples." -Fourfold
The disciples reaction is disbelief; it was so outside of their expectations that they couldn't grasp the truth, much as Mary did not initially recognize Jesus for whom he was.
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