Joh 20:17 | KingComments | STEP | After His making Himself known to Mary and her joyful recognition of Him, the Lord prevents Mary from touching Him. The words “stop clinging to Me” are necessary to make it clear that the relationships are no longer as they were before His death and resurrection. He is not the Messiah in this Gospel, as He is presented in the Gospel according to Matthew. There we see, and it is fitting there, that the women are allowed to touch Him ( ). Here His resurrection is connected with His going to His Father and it is inappropriate for Mary to touch Him here. When He is with the Father, she will be able to “cling” to Him again and that is through the Holy Spirit He will send from the Father. On the day of Pentecost, when Mary will be filled with the Holy Spirit together with the other disciples, she will experience in her spirit a much more intimate connection with the risen Lord than she ever experienced in the days of His flesh. She may not cling to Him, but He has a wonderful message for those whom He calls “My brethren”. Mary is allowed to deliver that message. He speaks to Mary of “My brethren,” expressing a relationship beyond “His own” ( ) or “My friends” ( ), as He called His disciples as well. In speaking of them as “My brethren”, He places them in the same relation to God His Father in which He Himself stands. This relationship could only come about after He had passed through death and resurrection. If His Father is now our Father, He is not ashamed to call us His brethren ( ). It means that believers are now a family. Mary, because of her attachment to the Lord Jesus, is the appropriate person to go and tell the disciples the glorious message of an entirely new relationship. It concerns the highest truths of Christendom which are all connected with knowing the Father and God of the Son, as our Father and our God. However, the ‘our’ refers exclusively to the believers and not to the believers together with the Son. The Lord Jesus nowhere speaks of ‘our’ Father and ‘our’ God in that sense. As the eternal Son, He has a unique relationship with His Father and His God that cannot be shared by us. Mary does what He has told her to do. The first thing she tells the disciples is that she has seen the Lord. Her encounter with Him as the risen One is the starting point. Then she tells the disciples what He has told her. This order is important for us as well. We can only pass something on to others when we have had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus about this, that is, He came to our attention by what He has told us and we having seen Him.

‏ John 20:17

The Message to the Disciples

After His making Himself known to Mary and her joyful recognition of Him, the Lord prevents Mary from touching Him. The words “stop clinging to Me” are necessary to make it clear that the relationships are no longer as they were before His death and resurrection. He is not the Messiah in this Gospel, as He is presented in the Gospel according to Matthew. There we see, and it is fitting there, that the women are allowed to touch Him (Mt 28:9). Here His resurrection is connected with His going to His Father and it is inappropriate for Mary to touch Him here.

When He is with the Father, she will be able to “cling” to Him again and that is through the Holy Spirit He will send from the Father. On the day of Pentecost, when Mary will be filled with the Holy Spirit together with the other disciples, she will experience in her spirit a much more intimate connection with the risen Lord than she ever experienced in the days of His flesh.

She may not cling to Him, but He has a wonderful message for those whom He calls “My brethren”. Mary is allowed to deliver that message. He speaks to Mary of “My brethren,” expressing a relationship beyond “His own” (Jn 13:1) or “My friends” (Jn 15:14), as He called His disciples as well.

In speaking of them as “My brethren”, He places them in the same relation to God His Father in which He Himself stands. This relationship could only come about after He had passed through death and resurrection. If His Father is now our Father, He is not ashamed to call us His brethren (Heb 2:11-12). It means that believers are now a family.

Mary, because of her attachment to the Lord Jesus, is the appropriate person to go and tell the disciples the glorious message of an entirely new relationship. It concerns the highest truths of Christendom which are all connected with knowing the Father and God of the Son, as our Father and our God.

However, the ‘our’ refers exclusively to the believers and not to the believers together with the Son. The Lord Jesus nowhere speaks of ‘our’ Father and ‘our’ God in that sense. As the eternal Son, He has a unique relationship with His Father and His God that cannot be shared by us.

Mary does what He has told her to do. The first thing she tells the disciples is that she has seen the Lord. Her encounter with Him as the risen One is the starting point. Then she tells the disciples what He has told her. This order is important for us as well. We can only pass something on to others when we have had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus about this, that is, He came to our attention by what He has told us and we having seen Him.