Jesus
said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.
John 20:16-18
John 20 [15.] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
John 20 [16.] Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
John 20 [17.] Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
John 20 [18.] Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
Meaning:
Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the empty tomb. When a man asked why she was crying, she supposed him to be the gardener and begged him to tell her where the body had been taken. Mark summarises what happened next: “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (Mark 16:9). John lets us hear the conversation.
- “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’”
One word was enough. Mary had not recognised Jesus by sight, but she knew his voice when he spoke her name. Jesus had said of the good shepherd, “He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out” and “they know his voice” (John 10:3-4). The risen Lord knows each of his people personally.
- “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
Mary answers with the warm, personal title she had always used, in her own Aramaic. Her grief turns instantly to joy. The one she had come to mourn was standing in front of her, alive.
- “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father”
Mary clung to Jesus as if to keep him from being lost again. Jesus gently tells her not to hold on. Their relationship would not simply go back to the way it was in Galilee. He was going to the Father, and his presence with his people would take a new form through the Holy Spirit, as he had promised: “It is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7). His ascension came forty days later (Acts 1:9-11).
- “go to my brothers”
For the first time Jesus calls the disciples “my brothers”, only days after they had deserted him. Through his death and resurrection, his Father becomes their Father: “my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Hebrews says that Jesus “is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Hebrews 2:11).
- “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord”
Mary obeyed at once and became the first messenger of the resurrection. Mark adds that the disciples were mourning and weeping, and that they did not believe her (Mark 16:10-11).
The Significance of John 20:16-18
- A personal Saviour
Jesus met Mary in her grief and called her by name. He still knows each of his people and speaks to them personally.
- Good news is for sharing
Mary’s encounter immediately became a message for others. Meeting the risen Lord sends us to tell what we have seen.
Cross-References:
Mark 16:9: "he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons." Mark’s summary of this appearance.
John 10:3: "He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out." The shepherd who knows his sheep.
Hebrews 2:11: "he is not ashamed to call them brothers," The risen Lord’s brothers.
Conclusion: Mary recognised the risen Jesus the moment he spoke her name, and answered, “Rabboni!” Jesus told her not to cling to him, because he was going to ascend to his Father, now also the Father of his disciples, whom he called his brothers. Mary went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. These verses show a risen Lord who is deeply personal and who turns grief into joy and witness.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible