4/26/11 John 20:16-18

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
¹⁷ 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.’”
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

(Greg Olsen)

Thoughts: Mary Magdalene does not call Him Jesus, but the titles- "Rabboni" and "Lord."  If she was married to Jesus like the DaVinci code and the gnostics say, then, she would have had a more endearing term.  While many husbands may want to be called "Lord" that would be a rare title indeed for a husband, even in those patriarchal days.  He was her teacher- teaching her about life and death.  He was her Lord, whom she followed, owing her allegiance her all to Him.  These are good titles for any of us to use of Christ.  He is not a dead teacher, and He is not a dead Lord. 

Prayer: Help me to have listening ears to hear you as my teacher and Lord.  Help me to have eyes that see you, the living Lord, at the tombs and heartaches of my life. 

John Calvin Abridged: Christ allowed Mary to make a mistake (not believing), but in one word He corrects it. John 10:3 says, "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."  So in Mary we have an image of how we come to know Christ- He invites us by name as God calls His own sheep.  Mary's holding Him seems to disagree with the other gospels where Christ actually encourages the disciples to touch Him.  But here Mary threatens to touch him to the excess.  Christ does not forbid touching his body in order to remove doubt, but holding onto Him is unneeded.  Christ was concerned that they were overzealous about his bodily presence when this presence would eventually leave.