Scripture Daily

Context No. 726 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 20:16-23: in context

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” 17Jesus 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.’” 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. 19When 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.” 20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! 23If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.”

Easter morning, and Mary Magdalene is weeping at the empty tomb, mistaking the risen Jesus for the gardener, until he says one word: Mary. She turns and knows him, and cries out, Rabboni, teacher, and reaches for him. And his answer is strange and a little painful. Do not hold on to me, he says, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. She may not cling to the way things were. She must let go of holding him in order to become the one who is sent, the first to carry the news, and she goes and tells the disciples, I have seen the Lord.

That evening the disciples are behind locked doors, afraid, and Jesus comes and stands among them and says, peace be with you, and shows them the wounds. Then he says it again and turns it into a commission. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. He breathes on them, the way God once breathed life into the first man, and says, receive the Holy Spirit. Twice in one day people who loved him are moved from holding on and hiding into being sent out. The grip has to loosen, and the door has to open.

Mary had to stop clinging to the old way of having Jesus in order to be sent with the news. What good thing am I gripping in its old form, when I am really being asked to let go and be sent?

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