John 20:17

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her.

Although forbidden to touch the Lord, Mary nevertheless was granted the far more wonderful privilege of telling the good news of his resurrection and of announcing to them the forthcoming ascension.

Touch me not ... is another "discrepancy" in the eyes of some, for Matthew recorded that "the women came and held him by the feet and worshipped him" (Matthew 28:9). But, like all "discrepancies," this one also disappears in the light of study. The occasion in Matthew was marked by the presence of several women (including Mary Magdalene); in this incident, only Mary seems to have been present. These are therefore two separate epiphanies; and the only thing that may be made of it is that Jesus permitted several women to do something which, in this first appearance to Mary, he had denied. Also, the KIND of touching in the two appearances was different. The worship of Jesus does not seem to have been the purpose of Mary in that first spontaneous greeting. There was no inherent refusal of Jesus to be touched by mortals after the resurrection, because he specifically invited Thomas to do so (John 20:27); and he invited all the apostles to "handle" him (Luke 24:39). There was, therefore, clearly some divine reason for Jesus' prohibition of Mary's intended touching of him in this appearance. But is such a thing a "discrepancy"? Emphatically, No! There is another case of this same type of discrimination a little later in John, where the Lord prophesied the martyrdom of Peter, but denied the specific request to prophesy the future of John (John 21:18-23). If those two events had been related in separate Gospels, the critics would have been baying yet about a "discrepancy" in the Lord's prophesying the future of one apostle and refusing to do so of another. The Lord's permission to touch him, denied in one instance and granted in another, cannot logically be viewed as a "discrepancy." Morgan's words seem to shed some further light on the question, thus:

He did not say, "Touch me not." It is unfortunate how that rendition misses the true meaning. The English Revised Version margin reads, "Take not hold of me."[6]

It should not be overlooked that to Mary came the unique honor of being first told of the ascension to the Father. She also conveyed the glorious message of his resurrection, not merely of an empty grave, but of the living Saviour!

My brethren ... These are significant words. Peter had denied him, and all had fled during the crucifixion; but the Lord unhesitatingly addressed them as his "brethren." They had then entered upon their new status, henceforth being Christ's brothers, joint heirs with Christ of eternal life and partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Christ nowhere ever addressed all humanity as "brethren." As Hendriksen said of the saved, "These, these all, these alone, are Christ's brothers."[7]

[6] G. Campbell Morgan, op. cit., p. 314.

[7] William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel according to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1961), II, p. 456.