ACC ~ John 20 v10 - 16

OVERVIEW:

After looking inside the tomb, the disciples go home, but Mary remains (CHRYSOSTOM). By leaving, the disciples avoided unnecessary risk (CYRIL), but Mary’s love causes her to remain (GREGORY THE GREAT) and to take a second look into the tomb (AUGUSTINE). There were two angels inside, one at the head and the other at the foot, symbolizing the preaching of the gospel from beginning to end (AUGUSTINE) and representing the two testaments (GREGORY THE GREAT). The angels are initially silent about the resurrection (CHRYSOSTOM), but Mary’s tears soon receive their reward (CYRIL), and our tears too are wiped away with the promise of seeing our Lord again (GREGORY THE GREAT). Mary’s love was foretold in the Song of Songs (RUFINUS). Although all that remained of Jesus to human eyes was his body, Mary nonetheless refers to this body as the Lord who has been taken (GREGORY OF NYSSA, AUGUSTINE).

When Mary turns from the tomb, she sees Jesus but does not recognize him because he did not want his appearance to overwhelm her (CHRYSOSTOM). But her eyes were also still closed to the resurrection (JEROME), and by her doubting, she turned her back, as it were, on our Lord (GREGORY THE GREAT). But then Jesus speaks to her, spurring her longing for him even more (GREGORY THE GREAT). He gradually reveals himself to her (THEODORE) so that at this point she still assumes he is the gardener, which he was in a spiritual sense, as he tended to her heart (GREGORY THE GREAT) and was indeed the Gardener of paradise (JEROME). In her reply to him, she initially uses the title Lord out of courtesy, a title that she had earlier used in a different sense (AUGUSTINE). When she does finally recognize Jesus, it is because it is the voice of her Shepherd who calls her to come and take her place among the other ninety-nine lambs (ROMANUS). She then calls him Rabboni, because she still seeks to learn more from her teacher at whose feet she had sat while Martha busied herself (SEVERUS).

20:10 | The Disciples Return Home

THE DISCIPLES GO HOME, MARY STAYS

CHRYSOSTOM: As a woman, Mary was full of feeling and more inclined to pity. I say this in case you might wonder how it was that Mary wept bitterly at the tomb, while Peter was in no way affected. For “the disciples,” it says, “went away to their own home.” But she stood shedding tears. This was because hers was a tender nature, and she as yet did not have an accurate account of the resurrection. They … saw the linen clothes and believed and then left for their own homes in astonishment. And why didn’t they immediately go to Galilee as they were commanded to do before the passion? They waited for the others, perhaps, and besides they were yet at the height of their amazement. These then went their way, but she remained there. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:323**.

THE DISCIPLES AVOID UNNECESSARY RISK

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The wise disciples, after having gathered sufficiently satisfactory evidence of the resurrection of our Savior, were unsure, as it were, what to do with their confirmed and unshaken faith. Comparing the events as they had actually occurred with the prophecies of holy Scripture, they went back home and most likely hurried to see their fellow workers to recount the miracle and afterward consider what course should be pursued. They may have also had another motive in doing what they did. For the passion of the Jews was at its height, and the rulers were thirsting eagerly for the blood of every person who marveled at the teaching of the Savior and confessed his divine and ineffable power and glory. But most of all they thirsted for the blood of the holy disciples themselves, who then had good reason for shrinking from an encounter with them. This is why they left the sepulcher before it was quite light, since they could not have done so without risk if they were seen leaving in the daytime—the sun’s rays revealing them to everyone. We are far from saying that they were cowards as a reason for their cautious flight. Rather, it is more likely that the knowledge of what was expedient for them was instilled in the minds of the saints by Christ who did not permit these who were destined to be lights and teachers of the world to run unnecessary risks. [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [2]

[1] See Phil 2:15.

[2] LF 48:651-52**.

20:11 | Mary Stays

WHY DOES MARY TAKE A SECOND LOOK?

AUGUSTINE: What then does it mean, that, as she wept, she stooped down and looked again into the sepulcher? Was it because her grief was so excessive that she hardly thought she could believe either their eyes or her own? Or was it rather by some divine impulse that her mind led her to look within? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 121.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:436-37*.

MARY’S LOVE CAUSES HER TO REMAIN

GREGORY THE GREAT: Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner in the city, [1] loved the Truth and so washed away with her tears the stains of wickedness. [2] Her sins had kept her cold, but afterward she burned with an irresistible love. … We must consider this woman’s state of mind whose great force of love inflamed her. When even the disciples departed from the sepulcher, she did not depart. She looked for him whom she had not found. … But it is not enough for a lover to have looked once, because the force of love intensifies the effort of the search. She looked for him a first time and found nothing. She persevered in seeking, and that is why she found him. As her unfulfilled desires increased, they took possession of what they found. [3] … Holy desires, as I have told you before, increase by delay in their fulfillment. If delay causes them to fail, they were not desires. … This was Mary’s kind of love as she turned a second time to the sepulcher she had already looked into. Let us see the result of her search, which had been redoubled by the power of love. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [4]

[1] Lk 7:37.

[2] Gregory cites Lk 7:47.

[3] Gregory cites Song 3:1-4.

[4] CS 123:187-90**.

20:12 | Two Angels in White

FROM BEGINNING TO END

AUGUSTINE: Why is it that one was sitting at the head and the other at the feet? Was it because those who in Greek are called angels are in Latin newsbearers [nuntii]? In this way they signified that the gospel of Christ was to be preached from head to foot, from the beginning even to the end? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 121.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:437*.

THE TWO TESTAMENTS

GREGORY THE GREAT: An angel sits at the head, so to speak, when the apostles preach, “In the beginning was the Word.” [1] And an angel sits at his feet when he says that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” [2] We can also recognize the two testaments in the two angels, one earlier and the other later. These angels are brought together at the place of the Lord’s body because, while both testaments proclaim equally the message that the Lord became a man and died and rose, the Old Testament sits at his head, so to speak, and the New Testament at his feet. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [3]

[1] Jn 1:1.

[2] Jn 1:14.

[3] CS 123:191**. On the question of harmonizing the different Gospel accounts concerning the angels at the tomb, see Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 3.24.67-69.

20:13 | Mary’s Sorrow at Losing Her Lord

ANGELS INITIALLY SILENT ABOUT THE RESURRECTION

CHRYSOSTOM: The angels who appear say nothing about the resurrection. But by degrees the subject is entered on. First of all they address her compassionately, to prevent her from being overpowered by a spectacle of such extraordinary brightness. And they say to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:323**.

NO OCCASION FOR TEARS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Observe that the tears shed for Christ do not lose their reward, nor is it long before love for him bears fruit. Rather, his grace and rich restitution will follow closely in the wake of pain. Notice how—as Mary was sitting there, her cheeks bedewed with mourning for her beloved Lord whom she had lost—notice how the Savior granted to her the knowledge of the mystery about him through the mouth of holy angels. They tell her to stop crying because this was no occasion for tears. She was making a subject for rejoicing a cause of grief. Why, indeed, they say, when death has been subdued, and corruption has lost its power and our Savior Christ has risen again and made a new pathway for the dead back to incorruption and to life—why would you misunderstand what is going on now? Why are you so distraught with pain when what is actually going on calls for rejoicing? You should be glad, even ecstatic! And so, why then are you crying and, in effect detracting from the honor due to what amounts to a celebration? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [1]

[1] LF 48:653**.

OUR TEARS WIPED AWAY TOO

GREGORY THE GREAT: The very declarations of Scripture that excite our tears of love wipe away those very tears by promising us the sight of our Redeemer again. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [1]

[1] CS 123:191**.

MARY’S LOVE FORETOLD IN THE SONG OF SONGS

RUFINUS OF AQUILEIA: This was foretold in the Song of Songs: “On my bed I sought the one my soul loves. I sought him in the night and did not find him.” [1] Of those also who found him and held him by the feet, it is foretold, in the same book, “I will hold the one my soul loves and will not let him go.” [2] COMMENTARY ON THE APOSTLES’ CREED 30. [3]

[1] Song 3:1.

[2] Song 3:4.

[3] NPNF 2 3:555**. See also Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lectures 14.12.

JESUS’ BODY IS CALLED LORD

GREGORY OF NYSSA: His body too is called “the Lord” on account of the inherent Godhead. LETTER 17. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 5:544*.

MARY CALLS JESUS’ INANIMATE BODY “HER LORD

” AUGUSTINE: Mary calls her Lord’s inanimate body her Lord, meaning a part for the whole. It is the same as when all of us acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord, who of course is at once both the Word and soul and flesh, was nevertheless crucified and buried, while it was only his flesh that was laid in the sepulcher. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 121.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:437**.

20:14 | Mary Turns but Does Not Recognize Jesus

JESUS DOES NOT WANT HIS APPEARANCE TO OVERWHELM MARY

CHRYSOSTOM: But why, after speaking with the angels and not having yet heard anything from them, did Mary turn back? I think that while she was speaking, Christ suddenly appeared behind her and struck the angels with awe. And when they saw their ruler, they showed immediately by their attitude, their gaze and their movements that they saw the Lord. This is what drew the woman’s attention and caused her to turn around. This is how he appeared to them, but this is not how he appeared to the woman in order not to terrify her at the first sight of him. Rather, he appears to her in a more humble and ordinary form, as is clear from her reaction, supposing that he was the gardener. It was appropriate to lead one of so lowly a mind to higher matters not all at once but gently. He therefore in turn asks her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:323**.

MARY’S EYES CLOSED TO THE RESURRECTION

JEROME: Was he one person when he was not known and another when he was known? He was surely one and the same. Whether, therefore, they knew him or not depended on their sight. It did not depend on him who was seen. And yet, it did depend on him in this sense, that he held their eyes so that they might not know him. And finally, in order that you may see that the mistake that held them was not to be attributed to the Lord’s body but to the fact that their eyes were closed, we are told, “Their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” This is why, as long as Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus and sought the living among the dead, she thought he was the gardener. Afterward she recognized him, and then she called him Lord. AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEMS 35. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 6:442-43**.

STILL DOUBTING, SHE TURNED HER BACK

GREGORY THE GREAT: Mary, who was still in doubt about the Lord’s resurrection, turned around to see Jesus. By this doubt she had turned her back to the face of the Lord whom she did not believe had risen. Because she loved and doubted, she saw and did not recognize him. Her love revealed him to her, and her doubt prevented her from knowing him. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [1]

[1] CS 123:192**.

20:15 | Jesus Speaks to Mary

ALONG WITH MARY MAGDALENE

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Be the first to see the stone taken away, and perhaps you will see the angels and Jesus himself. Say something. Hear his voice. If he says to you, “Do not touch me,” [1] stand far away. Reverence the Word, but do not grieve because he knows those to whom he appears first. ON HOLY EASTER, ORATION 45.24. [2]

[1] Jn 20:17.

[2] NPNF 2 7:432*.

JESUS SPURS MARY’S DESIRE STILL MORE

GREGORY THE GREAT: Jesus says to her, “Woman, why do you weep?” He asked the reason for her sorrow to increase her longing still more, so that when he asked whom she was seeking she might feel a more fervent love for him. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [1]

[1] CS 123:192**.

JESUS AVOIDS FRIGHTENING MARY

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: And our Lord acted this way so that when she suddenly sees the one who she thought was beyond hope of ever seeing again because she still thought he was dead, she might not be overcome with emotion and think that he was some demonic apparition. He also wanted her first to speak to him gradually, as to a man, and after she had realized that she was speaking to a real man, she might finally understand who he was and at the same time might believe and admire the greatness of the event. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.20.11-14. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:348.

JESUS THE SPIRITUAL GARDNER

GREGORY THE GREAT: Perhaps this woman was not as mistaken as she appeared to be when she believed that Jesus was a gardener. Was he not spiritually a gardener for her when he planted the fruitful seeds of virtue in her heart by the force of his love? But why did she say to the one she saw and believed to be the gardener, when she had not yet told him whom she was seeking, “Sir, if you have taken him away”? She had not yet said who it was who made her weep from desire or mentioned him of whom she spoke. But the force of love customarily brings it about that a heart believes everyone else is aware of the one of whom it is always thinking. … After he had called her by the common name of “woman,” he called her by her own name, as if to say, “Recognize him who recognizes you.”… And so because Mary was called by name, she acknowledged her creator and called him at once “Rabboni,” that is, “teacher.” He was both the one she was outwardly seeking and the one who was teaching her inwardly to seek him. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 25. [1]

[1] CS 123:192-93**.

THE GARDENER OF PARADISE

JEROME: When Mary Magdalene had seen the Lord and thought that he was the gardener … she was mistaken, indeed, in her vision, but the very error had its prototype. Truly, indeed, Jesus was the gardener of his paradise, of his trees of paradise. “She thought that he was the gardener” and wanted to fall at his feet. What does the Lord say to her? “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” Do not touch me. You do not deserve to touch the one you looked for in a grave. Do not touch me whom you only suppose, but do not believe, has arisen. Do not touch me, for to you I have not yet ascended to my Father. When you believe that I have ascended to my Father, then, it will be your privilege to touch me. HOMILY 87, ON JOHN 1:1-14. [1]

[1] FC 57:220*. See also Jerome Letter 39.6.

20:16 | Rabboni

SIR AND MASTER

AUGUSTINE: Let no one think bad of the woman because she called the gardener “sir” (domine) and Jesus “Master” (magistrum). … In the first instance she was honoring a person from whom she was asking a favor. In the second she was recalling the teacher from whom she was learning to distingush the divine from the human. She called one lord (sir) even when she was not his servant so that through him she could come to the Lord whose [servant] she was. She used the word lord in one sense when she said “They have taken away my Lord,” and in anoher sense when she said, “Sir [i.e., lord], if you have carried him away.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 121.2. [1]

MARY RECOGNIZES THE VOICE OF HER SHEPHERD

ROMANUS MELODUS:

He who searches the hearts and reins and watches over them, [2]

Knowing that Mary would recognize His voice;

Like a shepherd, called His crying lamb,

Saying, “Mary.” She at once recognized Him and spoke:

“Surely my wonderful shepherd calls me;

In order that from this time forward He may number me among the nine and ninety lambs; [3]

For I see behind Him who calls me

The bodies of the saints, the ranks of the just,

And so, I do not say, ‘Who art Thou who callest me?’

For I know clearly who He is who calls me;

It is my Teacher and my Lord,

He who offers resurrection to the fallen.”

KONTAKION ON THE RESURRECTION 29.10. [4]

[1] NPNF 1 7:437**.

[2] Ps 7:9 (7:10 LXX); Jer 11:20; 20:12.

[3] Mt 18:12-14; Lk 15:4-6.

[4] KRBM 1:318-19.

MARY WANTS TO HOLD TO THE DIVINE, BUT ALSO TO LEARN

SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH: Some indeed say that because this woman approached him and touched him just as she had done before, without thinking anything of it, that she did not believe that this act of resurrection was worthy of the glorious and sublime divinity. Rather [they say] she still thought the same as she did earlier, that he would be characterized by his humility and humanity as when he was with his disciples. And so when our Savior asks why she is acting this way, as if he was still earthbound, because he had not yet ascended to his Father, it is as if he said, Do not touch me with too much curiosity. … Perhaps indeed he also knew that every fiber of her being wanted to hold on to these divine feet with joy and emotion as a friend of God because Matthew also records others, besides Mary, who seized his feet and adored him. [1] But others say that he was raising her to a higher and more sublime way of thinking. Because [they say] when Mary approached him with more fervent desire and to ask something concerning the divine, she did so because she wanted the reason for his resurrection revealed to her and so she returned to touch him. … And so Jesus, as one who knows the hidden things of the heart, says to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to my Father.” [He says this] because he had promised to his disciples, once he had ascended into heaven, that the Holy Spirit would come who would lead them to perfection by teaching and revealing to them what was hidden. … Then [i.e., at that time] he had said, “I still have many things to teach you but you cannot bear them now, but when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth.” [2] This is why [now] he says, “Do not touch me,” that is, do not probe, do not seek the reason for what you came to ask. Do not touch me. The time has not yet come because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But I will ascend, and when I do, the Spirit will come and teach you as he also promised to me. It is obvious that Mary, [once she recognized him], wanted to learn, because she addressed him not as “Lord” [as she had done earlier] but as “Rabboni,” that is, teacher. … She was anxious to learn. But, as one who directs his words with understanding to teach, Jesus deflects her [question] as being inappropriate. … [The Gospel] testifies to this desire of Mary, the sister of Martha, to know when, instead of listening to Martha’s instruction, she should remain close to Jesus, who said concerning her, “Mary has chosen the better share, which will not be taken away from her.” [3] CATHEDRAL HOMILIES 45. [4]

[1] Mt 28:9.

[2] Jn 16:12-13.

[3] Lk 10:42.

[4] PO 36 (167):118-22.