What was Jesus' issue with Mary touching him after he'd returned to earth after His resurrection? [duplicate]

Question

Why did Jesus, in John 20:17, tell Mary not to touch him. He of course had a new body. But he allowed Thomas to touch him. In fact urged him to later in verses 24-27.

Answer 1

Answer

Jesus told Mary not to touch Him because, He was the “Firstfruit” (1 Cor 15:20) of the firstfruits.

And because, that day was the Wave sheaf offering day!

Explanation

Representing Jesus’ First Coming, God gave certain Feasts starting in the first month of Nissan (our March-April). These are the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (UB) and Pentecost.

[Representing Jesus’ Second Coming, God gave certain Feasts in the 7th month (our September-October). These are the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement Day and the Feast of Booths].

The Feast of UB spans 7 days. In these 7 days will come a Saturday Sabbath. “On the morrow of” this Saturday “Sabbath”, i.e., on early Sunday morning, the High Priest was to wave the first ever crop of that year, bundled into a sheaf before the LORD in the Temple in Jerusalem (Lev 23:10-11).

This sheaf is the first fruit of the first fruits reaped in that year. If my memory is correct (I don’t claim surety but I remember as having read somewhere) that this sheaf is considered to be a holy offering to the LORD, to be touched only by the High Priest. (Since I am not very sure about the touching part, someone can confirm this).

This holy sheaf (the first of the first fruits) represents Jesus Christ, the First fruit of the first fruits.

In the New Testament, Jesus Himself is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 6:20).

So, when Mary Magdalene first saw Jesus, He, as the High Priest, was about to present Himself as the First Sheaf before the Almighty God the Father exactly at the time the Jewish high priest was supposed to wave the sheaf in the Temple in Jerusalem!!!

Since the sheaf was holy and NOT to be touched by anyone, man or woman, except the high priest, Jesus as the First fruit was not to be touched by anyone , man or woman, before presented to the Holy Father (Heb 9:12)!!

This is the reason why Jesus prohibited Mary from touching Him.

But immediately afterwards, Jesus allowed all the women to catch hold of Him and worship (Mat 28:9). Later only, Thomas, a man, got a chance to touch Jesus!!

Conclusion

Jesus as the Firstfruit of the firstfruits to be presented before God the Father on the Wave sheaf offering day was to be untouched. There was no other issue.

Answer 2

Jesus urged to touch Him not only Thomas but other disciples too.

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (Luke 24)

Why did He prevent Mary Magdalene? In my opinion, the problem was the wrong timing, not touching itself. The whole scene took place early in the morning. It was Sunday, the day when the first fruit of barley was being offered in the temple.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. (John 20:1)

9 The LORD said to Moses, 10m “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. (Leviticus 23:9-14)

Only the priests were allowed to touch the first fruit before the offering was made. And that was the time when Mary met Jesus. The scripture tells us, that Jesus is the first fruit:

22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Corinthians 15:22-23)

Jesus was the first fruit and also the priest presenting it before God. A handful of the flour made from the grain was burned on the altar (ascended to heaven), and the rest was received back by the priests.

In similar fashion, Jesus had to present Himself to the Father, before He could give Himself back to the disciples, as in Luke 24:36-39.

Leviticus 23:11 in Septuagint says:

11 and he shall lift up (anaphérō) the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you. On the morrow of the first day the priest shall lift it up (anaphérō).

John 20 uses anabainó instead anaphérō, but both words come from the same root.

This is how the ritual of the first fruit is described by the Jewish encyclopedia:

The ceremony occurred toward the evening of the first day of Pesah (that is incorrect rabbinical interpretation), in a field in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, sheaves of choice barley having been bound there before-hand by men deputed to this work by the authorities. … The barley was then gathered into the baskets and carried to the hall of the Temple, where it was beaten out, not, as usually, with sticks, but with soft reeds; or, according to a divergent opinion, it was first roasted in a perforated vessel over a fire, so that the heat might touch all parts evenly. Then it wasspread out on the floor of the hall and winnowed in the draft. Ground in a coarse hand-mill, an 'omer of the finely sieved flour mixed with oil and incense was "swung and offered up," and a handful was burned as incense by the priest. The rest was distributed among the priests (Men. x. 1-4; Maimonides, "Yad," Temidin, vii.). The completion of this ceremony was the signal for opening the bazaars for the sale of new flour and parched grain. https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6139-first-fruits

Notice that the sheaf was: “bound there before-hand by men deputed to this work by the authorities”, beaten and roasted (furnace of affliction). Which foreshadows the suffering of the Messiah.

Answer 3

Unlike Thomas, Mary knew he was the resurrected Jesus. She had no need to touch his hands and side.

Jesus communicated something different to her:

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. [2]

Mary did not need physical proof of Jesus’ resurrection. When Jesus called her by name, she immediately recognized Him and believed. Thomas did need physical proof to believe in the resurrection, which is why Jesus invited him to touch His wounds later in John 20:24-27.

Mary Magdalene had no such skepticism. After Jesus said her name “Mary,” she immediately saw him and called him “Rabboni” (John 20:17). She did not need to touch him to prove that he truly rose. Instead, she confidently tells the disciples, “ “I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18)

The point is that Mary, unlike Thomas (and others) did not need proof that Jesus truly rose. She believed. So Jesus can communicate something different to her than he could with the disciples. [1]

Mary believed without needing physical proof, while Thomas needed to see and touch to believe. Jesus accommodated both their needs.

Contrast between Mary and Thomas:

• Jesus tells Mary not to touch Him.
• Jesus tells Thomas to touch Him.

Thomas’ experience:

• Thomas did not believe Jesus rose bodily until he touched His hands (John 20:27).
• Immediately, Thomas called Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
• By touching Jesus’ hands, Thomas begins to see who Jesus is; in “the form of the servant” he sees “the form of God.”
• Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Mary’s experience:

• Mary immediately believed Jesus had risen from the dead.
• In contrast to Thomas, Jesus aimed to teach her an alternative lesson.
• Jesus did not want her to cling to Him as if He was merely a resurrected man.
• Jesus wanted her to cling to Him when He went to the Father not while He was still on the earth. [1]

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.” [2]

Answer 4

Mary's status as a woman should not be ignored here:

17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

The scene presents Jesus as being alone with Mary. Women of virtue did not embrace men other than their immediately family in those days. Her (or another woman) touching him in a public setting was already controversial. To touch/hold him in private - a tomb no less - had serious moral implications that in today's culture we may not appreciate. It was important for the Gospel to make sure there was no sexual or romantic implication in their touching, at least on Jesus' part.

Anne Aalbers of the University of Auckland writes:

Jesus is the resurrected one who experienced not only human woundedness but also human sexuality... the language of “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended” allows for the possibility of sexual innuendo. Thus, the distancing of Mary by Jesus can be understood as a necessary command to preserve his celibacy.

Thus "do not touch/hold me" is an affirmation of the idea that Mary's relationship with Jesus - whatever her desire had been in the past - was to be one of absolute sexual purity.

Answer 5

There is more than one question here.

1. Jesus' Body

I would question the OP's assertion that Jesus had a "new body" on the following bases:

• people recognized Jesus after His resurrection showing that his figure and face were the same
• Jesus went to some trouble with Thomas to show that He still had the (healed) scars from His crucifixion, John 20:27
• Jesus also stated that he had "flesh and bones" as previously, Luke 24:39

2. Difference between Thomas and Mary

Jesus explains the difference in why He would not allow Mary to touch Him in John 20:17 -

"Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. ..."

This leads to the obvious conclusion that Jesus ascended to the Father between His appearance to Mary (Sunday morning) and His appearance to Thomas (Sunday evening). Indeed, in the same verse 17 above, Jesus goes on to explain, that He was "ascending [present indicative active] to the Father", ie, just about to go back to the Father.

Ellicott reaches the same conclusion:

I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.—The present is used of the future, which He regards as immediately at hand. The message to the brethren is an assurance that the going to the Father, of which He had so often spoken to them, was about to be realised. The victory over death has been accomplished. This appearance on earth is an earnest of the return to heaven. “Unto My Father,” He now says, “and your Father.” It is a more emphatic expression than “our Father” would have been. “I ascend unto My Father. Because He is My Father, He is also your Father, and you are My brethren. My victory over death was the victory of man, whose nature has in Me conquered death. My ascension into heaven will be the ascension of human nature, which in Me goes to the Father.”

Thus, it appears that Jesus did not want any praise, adoration or worship until He had ascended to the Father. After this, we see Jesus readily accepting, touching, worship and adoration such as Matt 28:17, Luke 24:52.