John 20:17, commentary and pictures

On resurrection morning He would not let Mary hold Him because He had not yet gone up to His Father, and He sent her to His disciples with word that He was about to ascend. The command means not to detain Him, for He would not receive her homage and worship before ascending to the Father. He ascended that same day to present Himself and the marks of His suffering before God to learn that His sacrifice for sin was accepted and His atonement full and sufficient. Having received the Father's assurance and approval, with all power in heaven and on earth, He returned that same day and let His followers hold Him and worship Him. Because He had still not ascended three days after the crucifixion, He had not gone to Paradise on crucifixion day, but His life remained with His body in the grave where He slept and then rose as a whole being in triumph. By calling God His Father and His God and also theirs, He joins the family of heaven with the family of earth and establishes His redeemed as belonging to the Father.

Encounter at the Tomb

On resurrection morning Jesus met Mary at Joseph's new tomb after His body was found gone, when she was sad and weeping in the garden where angels had told the women He had risen. She first supposed Him to be the gardener and asked where He had been laid, then turned and saw Jesus standing without knowing it was Him. She knew Him only when He called her by name, recognizing Him by His voice and general manner.

She recognized Him as her Master, and her grief turned to joy when she saw Him alive. In her joy she reached out to embrace Him and turned to worship Him. Jesus stopped her as she reached to embrace Him and told her not to touch Him and not to hold on to Him, because He had not yet ascended to His Father.

Instead He sent her to His brethren, the disciples, to carry the news of the risen Saviour and tell them He was ascending to His Father and their Father, to His God and their God. Over the rent tomb He thus proclaimed Himself the resurrection and the life, and His resurrection with its message to the disciples became grounds for joyful hope.

Meaning of the Words

The command means do not hold on to Him or detain Him, reaching out to embrace Him being stopped rather than permitted. It means He would not yet receive Mary's homage and worship before ascending to the Father, withholding even that honor until the offering was accepted. The reason given marks an interval before His ascension, for when He spoke on resurrection morning He had not yet ascended though He was risen and alive. His life and intelligence had remained with His body in the tomb for the allotted time, and He rose as a whole being with power to lay down His life and take it up again, without needing to summon His spirit from heaven. Later that same day He had ascended, received His Father's approval and the worship of the holy angels, and then permitted His disciples to hold His feet and worship Him, showing Himself a living Saviour.

The sending makes the disciples the ones to receive His resurrection message through Mary, whom He sends to tell them. In doing so He calls them His brethren, identifying them by that name even after His resurrection. The promise states His immediate, coming ascent to present Himself before God, spoken on resurrection morning as already in motion. That ascent was to present the marks of His suffering and His wounds before God and to seek assurance that His sacrifice for human sin and His atonement were fully accepted and sufficient to bring eternal life through His blood. He would soon leave, and His accusers would not see Him again until He returns in glory, when they will acknowledge Him as the one who comes in the Lord's name but too late for their salvation.

The paired phrases declare that His Father is also their Father and His God is also their God, highlighting a shared relationship. To my Father and your Father names God as both His Father and the disciples' Father. To my God and your God names God as both His God and their God, so that His relationship to the Father defines the redeemed as belonging to the Father. His resurrection and this message to the disciples are therefore grounds for joyful hope.

Sleep and Rising Again

At death His spirit did not pass to heaven to live on in separate conscious existence while His body lay in the tomb, but His life and intelligence remained with His body in the grave through the appointed time. He slept in the tomb and then came forth as a whole being in triumph when the angel rolled back the stone, with no need to call His spirit down from heaven. His rising in this way shows He possessed power both to lay down His life and to take it up again. Over the opened tomb He stands proclaimed as the resurrection and the life, a living Saviour risen and alive.

Because on resurrection morning, three days after the crucifixion, He had still not ascended to the Father, He had not gone with the repentant thief to Paradise on the day they were crucified. He had not entered His kingdom with the dying thief on that day.

This proves He was not in Paradise on the day He died, so in His promise to the dying thief the word today belongs with His speaking it on the cross, not with the thief being with Him in Paradise that day.

Ascension and Accepted Sacrifice

On that same resurrection morning He ascended at once to present Himself before God with the marks of His suffering and wounds upon Him. That going up was before He would receive Mary's homage, for there was an interval in which He had not yet gone to the Father though He stood risen and alive before her. Its purpose was to appear before the Father and to learn from Him and seek assurance that His sacrifice for human sin was accepted. What He sought was the assurance that His atonement was full and sufficient, that through His blood eternal life could come to His people.

Until the Father signified that the offering was accepted He withheld from Himself heavenly honor and glory. He would not receive the adoration and worship of the holy angels until that acceptance was declared. Then the Father gave approval and assurance that the sacrifice was accepted and the work completed. With that approval came the worship of the holy angels and the gift of all power in heaven and on earth.

Having thus been accepted He returned that same day to His followers on earth. After ascending and receiving power from the Father He permitted what He had before refused. The disciples were then allowed to hold His feet, to touch Him, and to worship Him.

Our Father and Our God

His ascent joins the family in heaven with the family on earth, marking the redeemed as belonging to the Father. His Father is also the believers' Father, and His God their God, so that the bond He has with the Father defines the bond they have. Those who receive Christ as personal Saviour enter God's heavenly family and are held by tender, abiding ties. The care that holds them surpasses even a parent's love for a helpless child.

He ascended for the sake of humanity and still lives for humanity as its intercessor. His appeal before the Father also sought His people's acceptance, that their relationship to the Father and to heaven be established. He asked that the church be justified and accepted through Him, and the Father's acceptance of His sacrifice ratified reconciliation and divine favor for repentant, obedient people through His merits.

Those redeemed people, justified through Him, share His glory and His kingdom. Having suffered with Him on earth, they will reign with Him. His calling the Father His God requires that no theory of the Father and God present Him in a way that belittles or dishonors Him.

First Witness and Future Hope

The risen Saviour made the weeping women the first messengers to spread the news of His resurrection. Mary was sent to carry that news to the disciples after she recognized Him. She was the first to proclaim that Jesus had risen. She was the first to preach that Jesus had risen.

His resurrection and His message sent to the disciples through her are grounds for joyful hope. He stayed on earth after His resurrection until He had made Himself known to Mary. He was held there by her love for Him because He had forgiven her sins and joined her soul to heaven. This shows He is willing to reveal Himself to those devoted to Him and His service who desire above all else to keep a living connection with heaven.

As Mary knew her risen Lord by His voice and general manner, those who remain faithful and have part with God's people in the resurrection morning will hear the voice of loved ones who now sleep and recognize them again. This proves the living connection between heaven and earth still holds and that every promise God has made to His people will be verified without fail. So the faithful will meet their Lord in peace and greet their loved ones in the kingdom of heaven. His coming ascent to His Father meant He would soon leave, and His accusers would not see Him again until He returns in glory. Then they will acknowledge Him as the one who comes in the Lord's name, but their recognition will come too late for their salvation.