Do not cling to Me...

“I have seen the Lord”

(John 20:11-18, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 19, 2010)

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

But Mary stood weeping... (11-14)

In these verses, Mary Magdalene sees the Lord. This is not the first time that Mary saw Jesus, and it is not the first place in the Bible that Jesus is called “Lord.” Yet there is something wonderfully new, a true first, recorded for us in these words. The Firstborn King of the new resurrection world is receiving the adoration and love of one of His beloved subjects. This great Man is the Lord. He is the answer to the question that careful thinkers should have been asking about Psalm 110 when they sang, “The Lord says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand.'” Who is the Lord, and who is He speaking to who is called in the psalm “my Lord.” If this song is written by David the King, and David's descendant is supposed to be the Messiah, how is it that Jehovah God, the Lord, is speaking to a Messiah figure who is David's Lord? How is it that the coming King would be both David's Son, and also David's Lord? Now we have the answer. Jesus of Nazareth, descended from David according to His human nature, but also the eternal Son of God, has risen from the dead. The Father was speaking to the Son about a moment yet to come, a new moment, when people would see the risen Jesus as ascended Lord. The Lord God would speak to His risen and ascended Son. “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Maybe that's too much to think about. The entire experience of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was too much for Mary Magdalene to fathom, this woman out of whom the Lord Jesus had cast seven demons. See Luke 8:2. How would you have reacted, if the Man who was so clearly your Deliverer had been killed in such a horrible way, and then you found that his body was missing from the tomb? She is weeping. She already knows that his body is not in the tomb. She stoops down again and looks in the place where he should be. Maybe she just didn't see rightly. Take another look. And when she does look, two angels in white are sitting where the body of Jesus used to be, one at the head and one at the feet. She doesn't seem to think that they are angels. She just treats them like people. They speak to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Mary speaks of some unknown “they” who have done something with the body of Her great Helper. “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” She is weeping. She is overwhelmed by everything. She turns away from the angels who seem like men, turns around from the opening of the tomb that she had stooped down to look into, and now there is another Man in front of her that she does not recognize.

“Whom are you seeking?” (15-16)

He asks her the same question as the two angels had: “Woman, why are you weeping?” And He adds a second question: “Whom are you seeking?” She does not know this third man. She assumes him to be the person in charge of the grounds of this burial area. Maybe he took the body of Jesus away? “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Was His body a bother to the man? Had moved it? Fine, Mary will take it.

But this man is not the gardener. This Man is the Lord, the King of Men and Angels, the risen Jesus. He says one word that brings Mary out of the place of death and into a new world of life. “Mary.” Her name. “Rabboni!” “My Teacher!” It is amazing the words that come out of our mouths. If you turned around, and suddenly heard Jesus calling your name, what would come out of your mouth? My Lord? My Savior? My God? My King? She had oriented herself toward Him according to a certain role. She was really a disciple. He was the greatest of all rabbis. She was a student. He was the greatest of all teachers. She was a listener and a learner of His spiritual teaching. She was doing what God had instructed Peter, James, and John to do at the Transfiguration, and what Mary of Bethany had chosen to do when Martha was caring for the house guests. She had learned to listen to Him. With no time to think, she says, “My Teacher.”

“Do not cling to me...” (17)

Jesus says to her, “Do not cling to me.” Even before Jesus rose to immortality, He knew what was in a person's heart. Certainly He knew what was in Mary Magdalene's heart on this occasion. It would be very normal for her to think of Jesus as she knew Him before the events of the last few days. But to cling to the temporary experience of what she had known of Jesus from the past would be a mistake. Everything is different now. The voice of the ascended Jesus will come in new ways, and not as a bodily companion she had known and embraced.

That earlier three-year public ministry of Jesus was a very unusual time. He went all over the land teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God and performing signs befitting the coming of the kingdom. But now the kingdom has started to arrive in the resurrection of our Lord. At the time of Hos death, He yielded His Spirit to the Father and was immediately in Paradise. Now He has come back from Paradise and has come forth from the tomb. He is on the earth again, but in a resurrection body. Soon He will ascend, resurrection body and soul, into the present heaven and will take His place at the right hand of the Father. He will not be around the table with the disciples in the same way. They will not see Him in the same way. He will be in heaven, with all who live there. He is going to His Father and our Father, to His God and our God. He is going home to our home.

Mary Magdalene went and announced... (18)

These words help Mary Magdalene. She is doing better now. She has seen the Lord, and she is able to announce that to the disciples. No longer is she speaking only of a moved stone, an empty tomb, or what could be seen inside that tomb like the linen cloths that Peter and John saw. She has seen the Lord. He told her about His coming ascension to heaven. Yes, she is better now. Her heart is calmer because of what He said to her. Jesus has risen from the dead, and He still knows her. He called her by Name.

Have you seen the Lord? Has He calmed your heart in these tumultuous times? Have you seen Him this morning in this worship service? Do you see Him in the face of one of His little ones who is hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick, depressed, or stuck in a desperate mess. See Him in the Scriptures and in the beauty of this fading world. See Him at this table when you hear those words, “This is My body. This is My blood.” See Him around the table at home, perhaps with others you love. You pause to acknowledge God and ask for His blessing upon your food and upon you and the others with you. See Him there. See Him in His promise of eternal life and in His provision of meaningful service for you every day. See Jesus as Lord everywhere.

Above all, do not see Him as an impersonal and distant deity, a god who cannot be bothered with your weaknesses and your dreams. He knows you. He knows how to call you. He is still with you, even after these many years. He will never abandon you. He will lead you home.

1. How are we to understand Mary's confusion concerning the Lord?

2. What was Mary's intention and desire that day?

3. How was she redirected by the words of Jesus?

4. What does it mean for us to “see” the Lord?