Jesus Said To Her, “Touch Me Not”
“Do not touch me”: the phrase that Jesus said to Mary
The biblical language has its own codes which need to be deciphered correctly for everyone to understand. Such is the case of the text according to John 20:17: after Jesus’ resurrection he says to MARY Magdalene: “Do not touch me because I have not yet ascended to my Father”. This occurs in the context that MARY Magdalene had gone to Jesus’ tomb believing that he had died. When she recognizes Jesus she wants to hug him.
Jesus tells her not to touch him because in a very short time she will return to the Father. Then he tells her to tell the disciples that he did not die. He was resurrected and will return to heaven with the Father. MARY Magdalene did what Jesus told her.
The True Meaning
The true meaning of the phrase “Do not touch me” that Jesus says to MARY Magdalene is that he is going to be very little time physically here on the earthly plane, since he must ascend to heaven, where his Father is. After ascending to Heaven, Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to be with MARY Magdalene, the disciples and all the others.
The Holy Spirit would be with them forever, not just for a while.
A Matter of Faith
When Jesus asks MARY Magdalene not to touch him, he means not to cling to him in the physical sense. Jesus’ mission after resurrection is to return to the Father, not to stay here on the earthly plane. He didn’t want to stay here, he just wanted to be let go. It must be taken into account that before dying, Jesus asks his disciples to disseminate his teachings throughout the world.
Therefore, Jesus’ physical presence is not necessary, since his infinite love ignores any physical and temporal limits. In fact, the Kingdom of God is spiritual and not physical.
Other Interpretations
Throughout history the phrase that Jesus said to MARY Magdalene: “Do not touch me” has generated interesting interpretations.
- The resurrected Jesus could not be defiled through physical contact.
- Jesus tells MARY Magdalene that instead of touching him, she should go to the disciples and tell them that he had risen.
- MARY Magdalene should not need physical proof of his resurrection, but trust him.
- The resurrected Jesus was not tangible from the physical point of view.
- At that time it was frowned upon for women to touch men. On the other hand, men could have fraternal physical contact with each other.
These interpretations are still being analyzed today.
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