Jesus said to mary Magdalene, 'Touch me not...'. How should a physical touch affect spiritual matters?

Hello there


This is a very precious portion in the word.


John 20:17


Jesus said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father, and your Father, and My God and your God."





On the day of His resurrection, the Lord ascended to the Father. This was a secret ascension, the Ultimate fulfillment of the " going" predicted in John 16:7.. which says...





" But I tell you the truth, It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you"





This ascension occured in secret, 40 days PRIOR to His public ascension, which took place before the eyes of the Disciples in Acts 1:9-11





" And when He had said these things, while they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a croud took Him away from their sight.





And while they were looking intently into heaven as He went, behold two men in while clothing stood beside them





Who also said" Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you beheld Him going into heaven"





On the day of His resurrection,EARLY in the morning, He ascended to SATISFY the FATHER, and late in the evening, He returned to the disciples as seen in verse 19.





" When therefore it was EVENING on THAT day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,. Peace be to you"





The FRESHNESS of His Resurrection MUST be FIRST for the Father's enjoyment, as a type of firstfruits of the harvest were brought first to God.





The Lord's speaking to Mary in this way showed His care for her seeking heart. Even after Peter and John saw that the Lord had resurrected, vs 10 says that " The disciples therefore went away to their own home"





Peter and John only knew the " discovery" Mary obtained the " experience"..They were satisfied with just the facts, but Mary's heart was not satisfied with the empty tomb, she wanted to see her Lord. She wanted the Resurrected Lord Himself..


It was because of Mary's seeking heart, that the Lord took the few precious minutes to comfort her heart, to let her know that it was HE.. Her Rabonni ( meaning Teacher) She did not recognize His resurrected glorfied Body, but she recognized the voice of the Lord. This voice that she listened to. Learning of Him from being in His presence and under His teaching.





The reason for the Lord not wanting the sister to touch Him, was simply for the fact that His Resurrection, as a firstfruit and wave offering, had to be enjoyed by the Father FIRST. After the Father was satisfied with this accomplishment of the Lord, then the Lord came back to the disciples in the room. It was then that He even offered for Thomas to touch Him. The Father had already been blessed and enjoyed the freshness of the Lord's resurrection., and because of Mary's seeking heart, she got a taste of it as well.:)





Praise the Lord for all that He has gone through to finally in John 20:22, breathe into the disciples and say to them


" Receive the Holy Spirit"





Finally, after all these years of being outside of the disciples, He can breathe into them and tell them to Receive Him INTO them, to be their Life inwardly, their supply and their way to move on. This was the indwelling Spirit they received. Later on the day at Pentecost, they received the outward EMPOWERING of the Holy Spirit for the equipping for the work of the New Testiment Ministry.





Great Question


Ty for asking it.


In Christ


sandy

Jesus said to mary Magdalene, 'Touch me not...'. How should a physical touch affect spiritual matters?
Jesus said touch Me not for I have not yet ascended to the Father saying that His Spirit had not seperated from His fleshly body
Reply:Answer:





Jesus tells Mary, “Touch Me not” (John 20:17, KJV); but then later, speaking to Thomas, He says, “Reach hither thy finger and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side” (verse 27). The seeming incongruity of Jesus’ statements is resolved when we examine the language Jesus employed and consider the basic difference between the two situations.





In John 20:17, the word translated “touch” is a Greek word which means “to cling to, to lay hold of.” This wasn’t just a touch; it was a grip. Obviously, when Mary recognized Jesus, she immediately clung to Him. Matthew 28:9 records the other women doing the same thing when they saw the resurrected Christ.





Mary’s reaction was motivated, possibly, by several things. One is simply her loving devotion to the Lord. Mary is overwhelmed by the events of the morning, and as her grief turns to joy, she naturally embraces Jesus. Another motivation is Mary’s desire to restore the fellowship that death had broken. She had lost Him once, and she was going to make sure she didn’t lose Him again—she wanted to keep Jesus with her always. Also, Mary may have been thinking that this was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to return (John 14:3), in which case He would take her (and all believers) with Him to heaven.





However, it was not Jesus’ plan to stay in this world always, and His resurrection was not to be seen as His promised return. That is why He tells Mary of the ascension. His plan was to ascend to the Father and then send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7; 20:22; Acts 2:1-4). Fellowship with Jesus would continue, but it would be a spiritual communion, not a physical presence.





In loosening Mary’s hold on Him, Jesus was, in effect, saying this: “I know you desire to keep Me here, always present with you. I know you want everything to be just the same as before I died. But our relationship is about to change. I’m going to heaven, and you will have the Comforter in My place. You need to start walking by faith, Mary, not by sight.”





When Jesus spoke to Thomas, it was not to counter a misplaced desire but to rebuke a lack of faith. Thomas had said he would not believe until he had touched the living body of Jesus (John 20:25). Jesus, knowing all about Thomas’s declaration, offered His body as living proof of His resurrection. This was something He did on another occasion as well (Luke 24:39-40).





So, both Mary and Thomas needed more faith. Mary needed faith enough to let Jesus go. Thomas needed faith enough to believe without empirical proof. Mary needed to loosen her grip; Thomas needed to strengthen his. The resurrected Christ gave both of them the faith they needed.








hope this helps. Also, theres another point. He has with Him at that point, the Souls of the OT Saints - bcoz they were waiting for His coming to take them from that 'resting place' and to bring them to Abraham's Bosom. So having those souls with him , himself not yet gone to the Father to present these souls, might have told Mary not to Touch. AND Remember, Jesus was no more in His earthly body, but was in His Spiritual Body after Resurrection.





God bless
Reply:What Potters Clay said. Give him the points.