Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father

[Be still]

John 20
1 Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb.

2 She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him.

3 Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb.

4 And they ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb;

5 and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying; yet entered he not in.

6 Simon Peter therefore also cometh, following him, and entered into the tomb; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying,

7 and the napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.

8 Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed.

9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

10 So the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11 But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping: so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;

12 and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

14 When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher.

17 Jesus saith to 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.

18 Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her.

19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20 And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

23 whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30 Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book:

31 but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.



Why did Jesus say "touch me not" to Mary Magdalene yet he let Thomas touch him?

He hadn't ascended to the Father yet in either case for it had not been 40 days.

[AndCanItBe]

Now I haven't looked all of this up yet but Jesus said He had to go so He could send the Comforter, aka the Holy Spirit, because if he didn't the HS couldn't come. Notice He breathed the Holy Spirit on them and He was sending them as the Father had sent Him in verses 21 and 22? This is just wild speculation, but maybe Mary saw Him fresh from the battle with Satan and then by evening Jesus had seen God and returned to impart the Holy Spirit? Obviously He didn't ascend for the last time, until His coming again, for 40 days, but is there anything that says it has to be the ONLY time he ascended before that point?


I'll look some stuff up, if I'm way off base, sorry.

Okay where does it say that there is 40 days between resurrection and ascension? I've always heard this and can't find it in any of the four gospels. What am I missing? Is it just assumed because of the space between feasts or something?

Thanks for the question Karen! You certainly exposed something I apparently don't get and didn't know it! LOL!

[Be still]

Obviously He didn't ascend for the last time

I don't know if it says He ascended more than once ... I thought it was once after 40 days and 500 witnesses?

I'll find that scripture for you, cause I just read it.

[Be still]

Acts 1
Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

[kwag_myers]

We see in the Old Testament that the priests washed before taking the blood sacrifice to the altar (Ex 30:18). Hebrews 12:24-13:20 shows us that Jesus took the place of the Mosaic sacrifices and became our eternal sacrifice.

My theory is this; since Jesus was about to take His blood sacrifice to the heavenly altar, He didn't want to be touched and defiled.

[Be still]

Are you saying He ascended to the Father more than once .... between the time Mary saw Him and the time He let Thomas touch him?

Welcome to the board kwag_myers. I'm from S.E. Michigan too.

[kwag_myers]

Thanks for the welcome. I heard this was a good place to hang out, so I thought I'd give it a try. Previous forum memberships haven't worked out for me.

Anyway, in John 20:17, Jesus hadn't ascended yet (for the first time) when He spoke to Mary. When He left the disciples (Acts 1) He was fulfilling His prophecy in John 14:2, "There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly."

It's important to compare the Mosaic Laws for sacrifices here. We know that the tabernacle is a "...type and shadow..." of spiritual truths (He 8:5). The book of Hebrews is a good start.

Also consider Ge 28:12, where angels were free to come and go between heaven and earth. This is not always the case, as in Daniel 10:20. However, in the case of Jesus, He had just defeated Satan, so I'm thinkin' there wasn't much resistance from the Prince of the Power of the Air (Ep 2:2).

[ozell]

Hi Karen

the answer is in verse 1 and verse 20. I will try not to venture of the subject. God's day start @ Evening not the Morning. FOR EXAMPLE WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN TONITE IT IS ACTUALLY THURSDAY.

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

While still dark on the first day of the week which is actually saturday nite when the sun went down. Mary went into the sepulchre Jesus was gone. when he revealed himself it was still early.

Jn 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

16: Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

17: Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

So later on in that day(in the evening) before the sun went down Jesus revealed himself to the disciples and thomas.

Jn 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Mk 16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

What was this another form that Jesus appeared in?

So he ascended to the Father during this time frame.


Read this also

Luke 24v34-39

Matthew 28v9

ozell

[Be still]

Thanks ozell, got it!

What was this another form that Jesus appeared in?

Oh, how I would love to know what form that was.

[yhudit32548]

When the 2 scapegoats were taken before the "High Priest",one of them was paraded thru the streets.
He was kicked
spat upon
beaten with sticks
mocked
screamed at
then he was stoned to death!!!
Fot the "sins of the people..............

Then the second goat was sent out from the camp into the wilderness.
He was tied with a red thread.When he came finally came back after a few days,The High Priest had the thread that turned white,indicating there "sins" were forgiven by HaSHem!!
The people would literally ....CLING to Him and not want to let him go!!!

Who is our HIGH PRIEST????

Shalom

[shem1]

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

In John 20:22 Jesus breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit, yet in Acts He told them to wait to receive the Holy Spirit.

Was the Holy Spirit given only to those present (in John) so they could comprehend who Jesus is and what He had accomplished by His death? Were they told to wait (in Acts) because they needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?

[bchandler]

I think there is a diference between receiving the Holy Spirit and the baptism, or filling.

They were told to wait in Jerusalem until they were embued with power. Why did they need to wait? Because God does everything according to the prophecies he has given us... and the baptism on the day of pentecost was a fulfillment that had to occur.

So.. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem. Note: Jesus was seen for 40 days after his resurecction... so they were waiting in Jerusalem for approximately 10 days between his ascension and the day of pentecost.

also notice that the greek has a present continuous tense that doesn't exist in the english language... so the stament be filled with the Holy Spirit is really better translated:

be filled and continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

we see this same tensing in other verses which would be netter translated similarly. for example:

Ask and continue asking and it shall be given unto you.

seek and continue seeking and you shall find.

Knock and continue knocking and it shall be opened unto you.

In all of these cases this is a continuous ongoing process, according to the greek tensing used.

IMO, we receive the Holy Spirit when we believe unto slavation... but that baptism... that immersion in his Spirit is something we receive and maintain by our lifestyle, not greiving the Spirit, and by our continuous fellowship with him.

[shem1]

Thanks bchandler

This is a very important concept to understand. I have a lot to learn about the Holy Spirit!

[Praise Him]

I copied this from a website, Daysof Noah.org, on the question of "Where did Jesus go when He died?" http://www.daysofnoah.org/ascension

This has an interesting added connection at the end concerning the rapture, which isn't the topic here, but I left it intact with the article.

Secret Ascension

Did you know Christ had a secret ascension before the one we all read about in Acts? It's true. Where did Jesus go when He died? Jesus went to the heart of the Earth (Matthew 12:40) after he died. Jesus told us himself on the resurrection morning in John 20:17 - I have not yet returned to the Father and I am returning to my Father and your Father....

Also notice that in John 20:17 Jesus tells Mary not to touch Him. Yet later in John 20:27 Jesus tells Thomas, "Put your finger here" and "give me your hand; put it into my side". Why didn't Jesus want Mary to touch Him yet it was okay for Thomas eight days later?

John 20:6-7 provides one clue:

Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen clothes lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen clothes but rolled up in a place by itself.

One Hebrew dinner custom was if a person was not finished with his meal but had to excuse himself in the middle of the meal, he would fold the napkin a certain way to indicate he would come back. John may be telling us here that the napkin was folded in this certain way - Jesus was about to ascend into Heaven but he was coming right back!

But why was Jesus going to Heaven? A very real possibility is that Christ, having just been in hell for three days, taking the keys of death and hell from Satan and releasing the Old Testament Saints from Abraham's Bosom, had yet to perform His priestly duties in Heaven. These priestly duties would have required of Jesus (our High Priest) ritual cleanliness. Mary had just been in a grave, making her ritually unclean by Levitical Law. Perhaps Jesus had to sprinkle his blood in the Heavenly Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:22-24). Perhaps Mary M. did not recognize Christ in the Garden because he was fully garbed in Priestly Vestments. He was wearing a full robe and a hood - priestly garments - and that's why Mary didn't recognize Him!

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked (see Isaiah 26:20), Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

The seven year tribulation is also known as Daniel's 70th week. Christ was gone for a week. Also notice that the doors were locked. Isaiah 26:20 reads:

Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.

John 14:2-3 reads:

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Wow! There seems to be much more going on in John 20 than originally meets the eye! This all begs the question: If there was a secret ascension between John chapter 20 and Acts chapter 1, Christ's public ascension from the Mount of Olives, why wouldn't there be a secret appearance of Christ before the public Second-Coming, where Christ's feet will hit the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14)? In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 we meet Christ in the clouds, not on the earth!

Answer: Jesus will soon arrive secretly in the clouds of Heaven - at the rapture of the Church!

[Abiding in His Word]

When the 2 scapegoats were taken before the "High Priest",one of them was paraded thru the streets.
He was kicked
spat upon
beaten with sticks
mocked
screamed at
then he was stoned to death!!!
Fot the "sins of the people..............

Then the second goat was sent out from the camp into the wilderness.
He was tied with a red thread.When he came finally came back after a few days,The High Priest had the thread that turned white,indicating there "sins" were forgiven by HaSHem!!
The people would literally ....CLING to Him and not want to let him go!!!

Who is our HIGH PRIEST????

yhudit32548, do you have a scripture reference for this? If so, I would be very interested in having you post it. Thanks!