Day 35
John 20: 16-17
16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 17Jesus 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.'"
"Mary" (John 20: 16-17)
Jesus speaks the single word, ‘Mary’ (verse 16), literally ‘Miriam’. The word is in its Aramaic form. Mary instantly recognizes him and says, ‘Rabboni’. Some translators see a note of affection and render it, ‘My dear Master’.
The ESV starts to iron out a problem in what Jesus says next: ‘Do not cling to me’. ‘Touch me not’ (AV) is the way the old translations express it. There was no reason why Mary shouldn’t touch Jesus. In the other accounts the women touch his feet (Matthew 28:9) and soon he would invite Thomas to touch him (verse 27). What Jesus appears to be saying is, ‘Mary, don’t keep holding me now. There is plenty of time before I return to the Father’. He adds, ‘Go instead to my brothers and tell them.’
Perhaps the lesson we must learn from this is not to hold on to an understanding of Christ that we learned years ago. We need to relate to the living Jesus. Our relationship with him, and our understanding of him, must grow at all times.
Think: How can we ensure that our understanding of Jesus does grow?
