BOOK 7. THE RESURRECTION.
CHAPTER 1.
7.1.5. Of Christ's apparition to Mary Magdalene.
Of Christ's apparition to Mary Magdalene.
On the first day were many apparitions, but I shall speak only to one or two, as related by the evangelist John.
1. Christ appeared unto Mary Magdalene apart, "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" John xx. 1. She came whilst it was yet dark, she departed from home before day, and by that time she came to the sepulchre the sun was about to rise; thither come, she finds the stone rolled away, and the body of Jesus gone; upon this she runs to Peter and John, and tells them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him." Then Peter and John ran as fast as they could to see, they looked into the sepulchre, and not finding the body there, they presently returned. By this time, Mary Magdalene was come back, and howsoever the disciples would not stay, yet she was resolved to abide by it, and to see the issue.
We find this apparition, for our further assurance, compassed and get about with each needful circumstance: here is the time when, the place where, the persons to whom, the manner how he appeared; together with the consequents after his apparition.
(a). For the time when he appeared; "now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning," John xx. 1. It was the first day of the week, the next day to their sabbath; I shall speak more particularly to this in the next apparition; and it was "very early in the morning;" the apparition was early, but Mary's Seeking of Christ was so early, that "it was yet dark she is going to the grave, when by course of nature she should have been in her bed; she sought him early whom she loved entirely; giving us to learn, that we should seek Christ betimes, "even in the days of our youth," Eecl. xii. 1. That in these first days of the week we should rise up early to enquire after Christ: they that will not seek Christ until they have given over seeking other things, may justly fear to miss Christ, "First seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and then (saith Christ) all other things shall be added unto you," Matth. vi. 33.
(b). For the place where he appeared, it was in the garden where Christ was buried; in a garden Adam first sinned, in a garden Christ first appeared, in a garden death was first threatened and deserved, and in a garden life is restored and conferred upon us; Christ makes choice of a garden, both for his grave, and resurrection, and first apparition, to tell us where we might seek him, if we have lost him, "My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies," Cant. vi. 2. That is, Jesus Christ is to be sought and found in the particular assemblies of his people; they are the garden of his pleasure wherein are varieties of all the beds of renewed souls, there he walks, and there he feeds, and there he solaced himself with those fruits of righteousness and new obedience, which they are able to bring forth to him. O! there let us seek him, and we shall find him.
(c). For the person to whom he appeared, it was Mary Magdalene, she that sometimes lived a sinful life, that was no better than a common courtezan, (Note added, not in the original: Luke 8:2 tells us only that Mary was demon possesed, and does not mention any charge of prostitution) now is is first up to seek her Saviour. Let never any despair of mercy, that but hears of the conversion of Mary Magdalene: Dionysius tells us, "That she that was loose and dissolute in her youth, betook herself in her old age to a most solitary life; that she sequestrated herself from all worldly pleasures in the mountains of Balma, full thirty years; in all which time she gave herself to meditation, fasting and prayer." The text tells us, "That much was forgiven her, and she loved much," Luke vii. 47. Her love to Christ appears at this time, "But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre," John xx. 11. This scripture we may call "a song of loves," or, if you will, "a song of degrees" every word is a step or degree of love more than another. As; --
(i). "Mary stood at the sepulchre;" she stood by the grave of Christ, it signifies her great love to Jesus Christ; many would stand by him while he was alive, but to stand by him dead, none would do it; those we love most, we will wait on them living, or if they die, we will bring them to the grave, and lay them in the grave, but there we leave them; -- Only Mary chooseth Christ's tomb for her best home, and his dead corpse for her chief comfort, she praised the dead more than the living, and having lost the light of the Sun of righteousness, she desired to dwell in darkness in the shadow of death.
(ii). "But Mary stood;" q.d. others did not, but she did: Peter and John were there even now, and when they could not find Jesus, away they went, but Mary went not, she stood still: their going away commends her staying behind: how many circumstances we may observe in Mary, setting out her love to Christ above them all. To the grave she came before them; from the grave she went to tell them; to the grave she returns with them; and at the grave she stays behind them. Certainly there was in Mary a stronger affection, than either in Peter or John, and this affection fixed her there, that she could not stir; go who would, she would not go, but stay still, "but Mary stood without."
(iii). "But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping:" this was love indeed; see how every word is a degree of love. But Mary stood there weeping: when Christ stood at Lazarus' grave-side weeping, the Jews said then, Behold how he loved him; and may not we say the very same of Mary, Behold how she loved him? Her very love runs down her cheeks, she cannot think of Jesus as lost, but she weeps: she weeps for having lost him whom she loved: at first she mourned for the departing of his soul out of his body, and now she laments the taking of his body out of the grave; at first she mourned because she could not keep him alive, yet that sorrow had some solace, in that she hoped to have enjoyed him dead: but when she considers that his life was lost, and not so much as his body could be found, Oh! She weeps, and weeps. The last office she could do, was to anoint his body, and to bewail his death: and to that purpose she comes now unto his grave, as sometimes she had washed his feet with her tears, (Note added, not in the original: The woman mentioned in Luke 7:37,38 is not actually known to be Mary Magdalene) now she would shed them afresh upon his feet, and head, and hands, and heart, and all: but when she saw the grave open, and the body gone and nothing, of Christ now left her to mourn over, she weeps the more, she weeps most bitterly: "But Mary stood there weeping."
(iv). "And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre." She did so weep as she did seek withal; her weeping hindered not her seeking, she sought and sought: to what purpose? That Christ is not in the tomb, her own eyes have seen: the disciples' hands have felt, the empty winding sheet doth plainly avouch: Peter and John had looked in before, nay, "they went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen clothes lying, and the napkin that was about his head, wrapped by itself," John xx. 6, 7. and yet for all this she will be stooping down, and looking in; she would rather condemn her own eyes of error, and both their eyes and hands of deceit, she would rather suspect all testimonies for untrue, than not to look after him whom she had lost, even there where by no diligence he could be found: "It is not enough for love to look in once." You know this is the manner of our seeking, when we seek something seriously; where we have sought already, there will we seek again; we are apt to think we sought not well, but if we seek again, we may find it where we sought: and thus Mary sought, and when she could think of no other place so likely to find Christ in, as this, she sought again in this, she will not believe her own senses, she would rather believe that she looked not well before, than she will leave off looking. When things that are dearly affected are gone and lost, love's nature is, never to be weary of searching, even the oftenest searched corners; there must still be an haunt for hope. Oh! love thinks it hath never looked enough; in the first verse she looked, and saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre! and now again she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre.
(d). For the manner how he appeared; it was first by his angels, and secondly by himself.
(i). There was an apparition of angels, she seeth "two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain," John xx. 12, 13. I will not stay here, only for the opening of the words I shall answer these questions; as,
- What means the apparition of angels? I answer, it is only a preparation to Christ's apparition. Mary's loss must be restored by degrees; though she saw not Christ at first, yet she saw his angels; it often pleaseth Christ in the desertions of his people, to come to them by degrees, and not at once, he comes first by his angels, so it was at his birth, and so it is at his resurrection. But,
- What do angels in a sepulchre? It is a place fitter for worms, than angels: we never read of angels being in a grave before this time, they are blessed creatures, and is the grave a fit place for them? O yes! Since Christ lay in the grave, that very place is a blessed place; "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth," Rev. xiv. 13. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," Psal. cxvi. 15. But,
- Why are the angels in white? Solomon answers, that white is the colour of joy, "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment," Eccl. ix. 8. When Christ was transfigured, his "raiment was all white, no fuller in the earth could come near it," Mark ix. 3. And the saints in heaven are said to "walk in white robes," Rev. vii. 9. And here the angels are in white, to signify the joy they had in Christ's resurrection from the dead. But,
- Why are the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain? Some answer, That as Mary Magdalene had anointed his head and feet, so at those two places the two angels sit, as it were to acknowledge so much for her sake. Others think it speaks comfort to every one of us; if we are but in Christ, we shall go to our graves in white, and lie between two angels, who are said to guard our bodies even dead, and to present them alive again at the day of the resurrection.
(ii). But in this apparition we see farther, a question and answer.
- The angels question Mary, "Woman, why weepest thou?" May I paraphrase upon these words; it is as if they had said, O, Mary! What cause is there for these tears? Where angels reioice, it agrees not that a woman should weep; thou couldst before with a manly courage, arm thy feet to run among swords, when thou earnest to the grave, and art thou now so much a woman, that thou canst not command thine eyes to forbear tears? "O woman, why weepest thou?" If thy Christ were here in his grave, under this tomb stone, we might think thy sorrow for the dead enforced thy tears; but now that thou findest it a place of the living, Why dost thou stand here weeping for the dead? If thy tears be tears of love, as thy love is acknowledged, so let these tears be suppressed; if thy tears be tears of anger, they should not here have been shed, where all anger was buried: if thy tears be tears of sorrow, and duties to the dead, they are bestowed in vain, where the dead is now revived; and therefore, "O woman, why weepest thou?" Would our eyes be dry, if such eye streams were befitting for us! Did not angels always in their visible resemblances, represent their Lord's invisible pleasure, shadowing their shapes in the drifts of his intentions? As for instance, when God was incensed, they brandished swords; when he was appeased, they sheathed them in scabbards? When he would defend, they resembled soldiers; when he would terrify, they took terrible forms; and when he would comfort, they carried mirth in their eyes, sweetness in their countenance, mildness in their words, favour and grace, and comeliness in their presence: why then dost thou weep, seeing us rejoice? Dost thou imagine us so degenerate from our nature, or to forget any duty whose state is neither subject to change nor capable of the least offence? Art thou more fervent in thy love, or more privy to the counsel of our eternal God, than we that are daily attendants at his throne of glory? "O woman, why weepest thou?" Thus for paraphrase.
- For her answer, "She saith unto them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him," John xx. 13. Here was the cause of Mary's tears. 1. They have taken away my Lord. 2. I know not where they have laid him," q.d. He is gone without all hope of recovery; for they, but I know not who, hath taken him away, but I know not whither; and they have laid him, but I know not where; there to do to him, but I know not what. O what a lamentable case is this; she knows not whither to go to find any comfort; her Lord is gone, his life is gone, his soul is gone, his body is gone, yea gone, and carried, she knows not whither; and do they ask her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" Why, here is the case, "They have taken away my Lord," (i.e.,) the dead body of my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him, "Where a little of Christ is left, and that is lost, it is a lamentable loss." Mary had sometimes a possession of whole Christ, she had his presence, she heard his words, she saw his divinity in his miracles, and in casting seven devils out of her own body; but now she had lost all Christ, his presence lost, his preaching lost, his divinity lost, his humanity lost, his soul lost, and last of all his body lost. Oh! What a lamentable loss was this! Mary would now have been glad of a little of Christ: O ye angels fill but her arms with the dead body of her Jesus, and she will weep no more; one beam of that Sun of righteousness would scatter all the clouds of Mary's grief.
(e). Question: But doth Christ ever leave his totally?
Answer: I answer, not in deed, but only in apprehension. In desertion, a Christian may to his own apprehension find nothing in Christ; and this was the case of Mary Magdalene; or, if Christ desert a soul in deed, and truth, (for desertions are sometimes in appearance, and sometimes real) yet never doth he forsake his own both really and totally. "The Lord will not wholly forsake his people, for his great name's sake," 1 Sam. xii. 22. the acts of his love may be withdrawn, but his love is still the same, it is "an everlasting love," Jer. xxxi. 3. Those acts which are for well being may be withdrawn, but his acts of love that are for being shall never be removed, "No such good things will God withhold from them that walk uprightly," Psal. lxxxiv. 11. Or Christ may go away for a season, but not forever, "For a moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee: in a little wrath, I have hid my face from thee for a moment; but with, everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer," Isa. liv. 7, 8. It was Christ's promise to his disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless, or as orphans, but I will come again," John xiv. 18. Though his compassions may be restrained, yet they cannot be extinguished: as the sun sets to rise again, and as the tender mother lays down her child to take it up again, so deals Christ with his, only for the present it is a sad thing; O! It is a lamentable thing to lose all Christ, though but in our apprehensions. To hear Mary's pitiful complaints, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid my Lord," it would make a flint to weep; methinks I hear her cries, "O my Lord what is become of thee? Time was that my soul was an enclosed garden, and the chiefest of ten thousand did walk in the shadow of the trees; but now the fence is down, my love is gone, and Sharon is become a desert: time was that I sat at the feet of my Lord, and I received daily oracles from his mouth; but now he hides himself, and will not come at me; I pray, but he hears not; I hearken after him, but he speaks not; I call, but he answers not. O my Lord, if I had never known thee, I could have lived without thee, but this is my misery; not so much that I am without thee, as that I have lost thee; many are well without thee, because they never enjoyed thee; the children of beggars count it not their misery that they are not princes: but, oh! the grief, when the children of princes shall be turned to beggars! O my Lord, once I had thee, but now I have lost thee, yea, I have lost thee every jot, and piece, and parcel of thee; O! Ye apostles, where is the dead body of my Lord? O! sir angel, tell me if you saw his torn, his macerated, crucified body? O grave! O death! show me, is there anything of Christ's body (though but a few dead ashes) in your keeping? No, no, all is gone; I can hear nothing of what I would hear, death is silent, the grave is empty, the angels say nothing to the purpose, the apostles are fled, and they (I know not who) have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
2. After this, Christ himself appears, but first as unknown, and then as known.
(a). As unknown, "She turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus, Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing him to be the gardener," See. John xx. 14, 15. In this apparition of Christ unknown, I shall only take notice of Christ's question, and Mary's inquisition; his question is in these words, "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?"
(i). "Why weepest thou?" This very question the angels asked her before, and and now Christ asks it again; sure there is something in it, and the rather we may think so, because it is the first opening of his mouth, the first words that ever came from him after his rising again; some say that Mary Magdalene, represents the state of all mankind before this day, viz. One weeping over the grave of another, as if there were no hope: and now at his resurrection, Christ comes in with weep not: "Woman, why weepest thou?" q.d. There is no cause of weeping now, Lo, I am risen from the dead, and am become the first fruits of them that slept.
(ii). And yet we may wonder at the question. Why should Christ demand of Mary why she wept? But a while since she saw him hanging on a tree, with his head full of thorns, his eyes full of tears, his ears full of blasphemies, his mouth full of gall, his whole person mangled and disfigured, and doth he ask her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" Scarce three days since, she beheld his arms and legs racked with violent pulls, his hands and feet bored with nails, his side and bowels pierced with a spear, his whole body torn with stripes, and gored in blood, and doth he ask her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" She saw him on the cross yielding up his soul: and now she was about to anoint his body, which was the only hope she had alive: but his body is removed, and that hope is dead, and she is left hopeless of all visible help: and yet doth he ask her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" O yes! though it may be strange; yet it is not a question without cause? She weeps for him dead, who was risen again from the dead: she was sorry he was not in his grave, and for this very cause, she should have been rather glad: she mourns for not knowing where he lay, when, as in deed and in truth, he lay not any where: he is alive, and present, and now talks with her, and resolves to comfort her, and therefore, "Woman, why weepest thou?"
(b). "Whom seekest thou?" She seeks Christ, and Christ asks her, "Woman, whom seekest thou?" We may wonder at this also, if she seek Christ, why doth she not know him? or, if she knew Christ, why doth she seek him still? O Mary! is it possible thou hast forgotten Jesus? There is no part in thee but is busy about him, thy eye weeps, thy heart throbs, thy tongue complains, thy body faints, thy soul languisheth, and notwithstanding all this, hast thou now forgotten him? What, are thy sharp eyes so weak sighted? That they are dazzled with the sun, and blinded with the light? O yes! A shower of tears comes betwixt her and him, and she cannot see him; or it may be "her eyes were holden that she should not know him," Luke xxiv. 16; or it may be he appeared (etera morphe) in some other shape, such as resembled the gardener, whom she took him for; howsoever it was, "she saw Jesus standing, but knew not that it was Jesus, and therefore saith Jesus to her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" John xx. 14, 15. There is a double presence of Christ, felt, and not felt; the presence felt, is when Christ is graciously pleased to let us know so much, and this is an heaven upon earth; the presence not felt, is that secret presence, when Christ seems to draw us one way, and to drive another way; so he dealt with the woman of Canaan; he seemed to drive her away, but at the same time he wrought in her by his Spirit an increase of faith, and by that means drew her to himself. This may the soul suppose Christ lost, and seek and weep, and weep and seek, and yet Christ is present.
3. For Mary's inquiry, "She supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."
In the words, we may observe. (a). Her mistake. (b). Her speech upon her mistake.
(a). Her mistake, "She supposing him to be the gardener:" O Mary! Hath Christ lived so long, and laboured so much, and shed so many showers of blood, to come to no higher preferment than a gardener? This was a very strange mistake; and yet in some sense, and a good sense too, Christ might be said to be a gardener: As,
(i). It is he that gardens all our souls, that plants in them the seed of righteousness, that waters them with the dew of grace, and makes them fruitful to eternal life.
(ii). It is he that raised to life his own dead body, and will turn all our graves into a garden plot, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise; awake, and sing, ye that dwell in dust, for the dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead," Isa. xxvi. 19. Besides, there is a mystery in her mistake: as Adam in the state of grace and innocency, was placed in a garden, and the first office allotted to him, was to be a gardener: so Jesus Christ appeared first in a garden, and presents himself in a gardener's likeness: and as that first gardener was the parent of sin, the ruin of mankind, and the author of death; so is this gardener the ransom for our sins, the raiser of our ruins, and the restorer of our life. In some sense then, and in a mystery, Christ was a gardener; but Mary's mistake was in supposing him the gardener of that only place; and not the gardener of our souls. "Souls in desertion are full of mistakes, though in their mistakes are sometimes many mysteries."
(b). Her speech upon her mistake, "If thou hast borne him hence" etc. we may observe.
(i). That her words to Christ are not much unlike the answer she gave the angels, only she seems to speak more harsh to Christ, than she did to the angels; to them, she complains of others, "They have taken away my Lord;" but to Christ, she speaks as if she would charge him with the fact, as if he looked like one that had been a breaker up of graves, a carrier away of corpses out of their place of rest, "Sir, if thou hast borne him hence." But pardon love, as it fears where it needs not, so it suspects very often where it hath no cause; "When love is at a loss, he, or any that comes but in our way, hath done it, hath taken him away."
(ii). That something she spoke now to Christ which she had not mentioned to the angels. She said not unto them, "tell me where he is," but reserved that question for himself to answer, "Come, tell me where thou hast laid him," q.d. Thou art privy to the place, and the action of removing Christ my Lord; Oh how she errs, and yet how she hits the truth! Jesus must tell her what he hath done with himself, sure it was fittest for his own speech to utter, what was only possible for his own power to do.
(iii). That the conclusion of her speech was a mere vaunt or flourish, "And I will take him away." Alas! Poor woman, she was not able to lift him up, there are more than one or two allowed to the carrying of a corpse, and as for his, it had more than an hundred pound weight of myrrh and other odours upon it; sure she had forgotten that women are weak, and that she herself was but a woman; how was it possible that she should take him away? She could not do it; well, but she would do it though, "there is no essay too hard for loves;" he exempts no place, she esteems no person, she speaks without fear, she promises without condition, she makes no exception, as if nothing were impossible that love suggesteth: the darkness could not fright her from setting out before day; the watch could not fear her from coming to the tomb where Christ was laid; she resolved to break open the seals, and to remove the stone far above her strength; and now her love being more incensed with the fresh wound of her loss, she speaks resolutely, "I will take him away, never considering whether she could or no; love is not ruled with reason, but with love; it neither regards what can be, nor what should be; but only what itself desireth to do.
(iv). That through all this speech she omits the principal verb, she enquires for Jesus, but she never names him whom she enquires after. She could say to the angels, "They have taken away my Lord;" but now she talks of one under the term of him, "If thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away;" him, him, him; but she never names him, or tells who he is; this is sohecismus amoris, an irregular speech, but love's own dialect, q.d. Who knows not him? Why, all the world is bound to take notice of him; he is worthy to be the owner of all thoughts, and no thought, in my conceit, can be well bestowed upon any other than him; and therefore, Sir, gardener, whosoever thou art, "If thou hast borne him hence," thou knowest who I mean, thou canst not be ignorant of whom I love, there is not such another among the sons of men, as the Psalmist, "He is the fairest among the children of men," Psal. xlv. 2. or as the spouse, "He is the chiefest of ten thousands;" and therefore tell me some news of him: of none but him; of him, and only of him: O! Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away? "A soul sick of love, thinks all the world knows her beloved, and is therefore bound to tell her where he is: the daughters of Jerusalem were very ignorant of Christ, Cant. v. 9. And yet, "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, (said the spouse) if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him I am sick of love," Cant. v. 8.
4. Christ appears as known: "Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master, John xx. 16. Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning:" she that hitherto had sought without finding, and wept without comfort, and called without answer, even to her Christ now appears: and at his apparition these passages are betwixt them: first, he speaks unto her, Mary, and then she replies unto him, "Rabboni, which is to say, Master."
(a). He speaks unto her, Mary! It was but a word: but, O what life? what Spirit? what quickening and reviving was in the word? The voice of Christ is powerful: "If the Spirit of Christ come along with the word, it will rouse hearts, raise spirits, work wonders." Ah! poor Mary! what a case was she in before Christ spake unto her? She ran up and down the garden, with, "O my Lord, where have they laid my Lord?" But no sooner Christ comes, and speaks to her by his Spirit, and with power, but her mind is enlightened, her heart is quickened, and her soul is revived. Observe here the difference betwixt the word of the Lord, and the Lord speaking that word with power and Spirit: we find sometimes the hearts of saints are quickened, fed, cherished, healed, comforted in the use of means, and sometimes again they are dead, senseless, heavy, and hardened; nay, which is more, the very same truth which they hear at one time, it may be, affects them, and at another time it doth not; the reason is, they bear but the word of the Lord at one time, and they hear the Lord himself speaking that word at another time; Mary heard the word of the Lord by an angel, "Woman why weepest thou?" But her tears drooped still; she heard again the word of the Lord by Christ himself, "Woman, why weepest thou?" And yet she weeps, and will not be comforted; but now Christ speaks, and he speaks with power, Mary! and at this word her tears are dried up, no more tears now, unless they are tears for joy: and yet again, observe the way how you may know and discern the effectual voice of Jesus Christ, if it be effectual, it usually singles a man out; yea, though it be generally spoken by a minister, yet the voice of Christ will speak particularly to the very heart of a man, with a marvellous kind of majesty and glory stamped upon it, and shining in it; take an humble, broken, drooping spirit, he hears of the free offer of grace and mercy in Jesus Christ, but he refuseth the offers; he hears of the precious promises of God in Christ, but he casts by all promises as things that are generally spoken and applied by man; but when the Lord comes in, he speaks particularly to his very heart, he meets with all his objections, that he thinks "this is the Lord, and this is to me." Thus Mary before heard the voice of an angel, and the voice of Christ, "Woman, why weepest thou?" It was a general voice, no better title was then afforded, but woman; thou weepest like a woman, O woman, and too much a woman, why weepest thou? But now Christ comes nearer, and he singles her out by her very name, Mary! Oh! this voice came home, he showed now that he was no stranger to her, he knew her by name; as sometimes God spake to Moses "Thou hast found grace in my sight, I know thee by name," Exod. xxxiii. 17, so Christ speaks to Mary, "Thou hast found grace in my sight, I know thee by name." Why, how should this voice be ineffectual? Oh now it works! now she knows Christ, which before she did not; and indeed this is the right way to know Christ, to be first known of Christ; but now (saith the apostle) "after that ye have known God, (and then he connects himself) or rather are known of God," Gal. iv. 9 . For till he know us, we shall never know him aright. Now her dead spirits are raised, which before were benumbed; and no marvel that with a word he revives her spirits, who with a word made the world, and even in this very word showed an omnipotent power. "The gardener had done his part (saith one) in making her all green on a sudden." But even now her body seemed the hearse of her dead heart, and her heart the coffin of her dead soul; and see how quickly all is turned out and in; a new world now; Christ's resurrection is Mary Magdalene's resurrection too; on a sudden she revives, raised (as it were) from a dead and drooping, to a lively and cheerful state.
(b). "She said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master." As she was ravished with his voice, so impatient of delay she takes his talk out of his mouth, and to his first and only word, she answered but one other, "Rabboni, which is to say. Master." A wonder that in this verse but two words should pass betwixt them too; but some give this reason, "That a sudden joy rousing all her passions, she could neither proceed in her own, nor give him leave to go forward in his speech." Love would have spoken, but fear enforced silence, hope framed words, but doubt melts them in the passage; her inward conceits served them to come out, but then her voice trembled, her tongue faltered, her breath failed; why, such is the state of them that are sick with a surfeit of sudden joy; her joy was so sudden, that not a word more could be spoken, but "Rabboni, which is to say. Master." Sudden joys are not without some doubts or tremblings; when Jacob heard that his son Joseph was alive, "his heart fainted," Gen. xlv. 26. He was even astonished at so good news; when God restored the Jews out of captivity, they could think of it no otherwise than as a dream, Psal. cxxvi. 1, when Peter was by an angel delivered out of prison, he took it only for a vision, or apparition, and not for truth. Acts xii. 9, when Christ manifested his resurrection to his disciples, it is said, That "for joy they believed not," Luke xxiv. 41. their fears (as it were) kept back, and questioned the truth of their joys. As in the sea when a storm is over, there remains still an inward working and volutation; even so in the mind of man, when its fears are blown over, and there is a calm upon it, there is still a motus tripidationis, a motion of trembling, or a kind of solicitous jealousy of what it enjoys; and this might be Mary Magdalene's case; though she suddenly answered Christ, upon the first notice of his voice; yet because the novelty was so strange, his person so changed, his presence so unexpected, and so many miracles were laid at once before her amazed eyes, she found (as it were) a sedition in her thoughts; her hope presumed best, but her fear suspected it to be too good to be true; and while these interchange objections and answers, she views them better, but for the present cannot speak a word more, save this, "Rabboni, which is to say. Master."
5. For the consequents after this apparition, 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 to your Father, and to my God, and your God," John xx. 17.
In these words we may observe, a prohibition and a command; the prohibition. "Touch me not," the command, "but go to my brethren, and say unto them," etc.
(a). Touch me not. It seems Mary was now fallen at his sacred feet, she was now ready to kiss with her lips his sometimes grievous, but now most glorious wounds, "Such is the nature of love, that it covets not only to be united, but if it were possible to be transformed out of itself, into the thing it loveth." Mary is not satisfied to see her Lord, nor is she satisfied to hear her Lord, but she must touch him, embrace his feet, and kiss them with a thousand kisses; oh! how she hangs and clings about his feet! Or at least how she offers to make towards him, and to fall upon him! -- But on a sudden he checks her forwardness, "Touch me not."
What a mystery is this: Mary a sinner touched him, and she being now a saint, may she not do so much? She was once admitted to anoint his head, and is she now unworthy to touch his feet? What meaned Christ to debar her of so desired a duty? She had the first sight of Christ, and heard the first words of Christ after his resurrection, and must she not have the privilege of his first embracing; there is something of wonder in these words; and it puts many to a stand, and many an interpretation is given to take off the wonder; I shall tell you of some of them, though for my part I shall cleave only to the last.
(i). Some think, that Mary not only essayed to kiss his feet, but to desire the fulfilling of the promise of the Spirit of Christ; this promise Christ made to his disciples at his last supper, "I will send you the Comforter," (Quia nondum sanctum Spiritum misserat, ideo a tactu suo Mariam prohibebat, dicens nondum ascendi in coelum, unde ipse per me Spiritum sanctum ad vos mitter. Cyril. 1. 12. in Joha, c. 50.) John xvi. 7; and she expected it to be now performed after his resurrection: to which Christ answered, That he "would not then give the Spirit unto her, for that as yet he was not ascended into heaven; whence the Spirit should come, q.d. Forbear, Mary, if this be the meaning of thy complaint, hands off, O touch me not! "For I am not yet ascended to my Father."
(ii). Others think, that Mary was forbidden to touch because of her unbelief; (Noli me tangere, quiae in side tua nondum resurrexi, and, ad gloriae statum perreni, Hieronym. epist. 95. c. ad Hidibiam.) she had not the least thought till just now, that Christ was risen, or that he should ascend; and therefore she deserved not the least favour at his hands, q.d. "Touch me not, for in thy faith I am not risen, nor shall I ascend unto my Father, thou complainest of men, they have taken away my Lord, thou seekest for the living among the dead, and therefore thou art unworthy of a touch, or any approach, O touch me not!"
(iii). Others think, that Christ forbade Mary's touch, because she looked upon it as the most manifest confirmation of her faith touching Christ's resurrection. There was a more sure and certain evidence of this thing, than touching or feeling, and the discovery of that was to be after his ascension, when the Holy Ghost should be given, q.d. "Touch me not for I would not have my resurrection chiefly approved by the judgment of sense; rather expect a while till I ascend unto my Father in heaven, for then I will send the Holy Ghost, and he shall declare the truth and certainty of my resurrection, far surer and better. (Noli me tangere, noli meum resurrectionem judicio sensuum comprobare sed parumper expecta tempus meae ascensionis et missionis Spiritus sancte, and, tunc longe melius, and, tenacius percipies veritatem resurrectionis meae, quam modo me contingeus. Bern. ser. 28. in Cant.)
(iv). Others think this touch was forbidden, that Christ might show his approbation of chastity, and sanctity, and inward purity; Mary was now alone with Christ, and that he might give an example of most pure chastity, he forbids her touch, which afterwards in presence of others, he admits her and other women too, for so it is said, "That they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him," Matth. xxviii. 9. And to this exposition the reason affixed doth well agree, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, q.d. For an example of holy chastity touch me not now, but hereafter in heaven I will give thee leave; when men and women shall be as the holy angels and shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage, then mayest thou touch, there will be no need of the like example then as now; "Then I will not forbid thee, but till then, especially if thou art alone. Oh, touch me not!" (Ut ostenderet manirestam, caslitatem, and, sanctimoniam par sanctificationem dixit Mariae, ne me attingas. Epipba. haeresi. 26. prode. finem.)
(iv). Others think, that Mary too much doated upon that present condition of Jesus Christ; she looked upon it as the highest pitch of Christ's exaltation, she desired no more happiness than to enjoy him in that same condition wherein she now saw him; and thereupon said Christ, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended," q.d. O Mary! fix not thy thoughts so much upon my present condition, in as much as this is not the highest pitch of my exaltation. I am not as yet attained to that, nor shall I attain to it until I ascend. The degrees of my exaltation are, 1. My resurrection. 2. My ascension. 3. My session at God's right hand, but that is not yet.
(vi). Others think, that Mary carried it with too much familiarity toward Christ; (Ne pristina illa familiaritate, qua cum in carne mortalem intuebatur, pertractaret, judicans post resurrectionem gloriam reverentius, and, gravius cum illo agendum esse, Chrysost. hom. 58. in Johan.) she looked upon Christ as she did formerly, she had not that reverence or respect of Christ, as she ought to have had, she differenced not the mortal state of Christ from his now glorified state after his resurrection; whereas with him the case was quite altered; he is risen in a far otherwise condition than he was, for now his corruptible hath put on incorruption, and his mortal hath put on immortality; he died in weakness and dishonour, but he is risen again in power and glory; and as in another state, so to another end, he was not now to stay upon earth, or to converse here any longer, but to ascend up into heaven, q.d. Though I be not yet ascended to my Father, yet I shall shortly ascend; and therefore measure not thy demeanour towards me by the place where I am, but by that which was due to me, and when thou wilt rather with reverence fall down afar then with familiarity seem to touch me; Thus, touch me not.
(vii). Others think, this prohibition (Christus nou aliud prohibuit Magdalenam, quam ne nimium temporis absumeret, prout antea solebat, ad pedes ejus, sed quam citius inde se expedirit, ut de ejus resurrectione certiores saceres fratres suos, Card. Tolet. sup. cap. 20. Joh.) was only for that time, and that because he had greater business for her in hand: Christ was not willing now to spend time in complaints, but to dispatch her away upon that errand, "Go to my brethren," etc. And the reason following suits with this comment, "For I am not yet ascended to my Father," q. d. Thou needest not so hastily to touch me now, for I am not yet ascended; though I be going, yet I am not gone, another time will be allowed, and thou mayest do it at better leisure, only forbear now; and the first thing thou dost, "go to my brethren; it will do them more good to hear of my rising than it will do thee good to stand here touching, and holding, and embracing, and therefore in this respect, now -- "touch me not."
(viii). Others think, that Christ (Christus loquitur de tactu, and, de aseensione, non corporali, sed spirituali. Et exinde Magdalena a Christo Domino illuminata suit, ut deinceps non solum crediderit, sed, and, alias feminas ad credendum instruxerit, Vid. Aug. tract 21. in Joh. serm. 60. de verbis Domini, and, 252 et 155. de tempore Ambros. Luc. ult., and, lib. de Isaac., and, anima. c. 5., and ser. 58.) in these words, meant to wean her from all sensual touching, and to teach her a new and spiritual touch by the hand of faith; and to this sense the reason agrees well, for I am not yet ascended, or I shall quickly ascend unto my Father; till Christ were ascended she might be touching with a sensual touch, but that would neither continue, nor do her any good, but if she would learn the spiritual touch, no ascending could hinder that, one that is in heaven might be touched so: and hence it is, that if now we will but send up our faith, we may touch Christ to this day, and there will virtue come out of him. It was Christ's care to wean Mary from the comfort of his external presence, and to teach her how to embrace him by a true and lively faith: he was not long to be seen in his visible shape, being shortly to ascend unto his Father; and therefore the main business was to learn that touch, that would both continue and do her good to her soul's health. And I believe, for this very cause, Christ would not stay long with any of his disciples at any time; he only appeared to manifest himself, and to prove his resurrection, and then to wean them from all sensual and carnal touching, he would quickly have been gone. Observe, that "a spiritual touch of Christ by faith is that which Christ prefers above all touches;" it is the apostle's saying, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." The words have a double interpretation; as, --
- "Henceforth know we him no more;" if we had any earthly carnal thoughts of Christ like unto the rest of the Jews that he as the king of Israel should begin an earthly temporal kingdom, and that we should enjoy all manner of earthly carnal privileges, as honour, riches, power, yet now we know him no more, we have put off all such carnal imaginations of his kingdom. Or,
- "Henceforth know we him no more;" we stand no longer affected towards Christ, after any merely human, civil, or natural manner of affections, such as those bear to him, who conversed with him before his resurrection, but altogether in a divine and spiritual manner, agreeable to the state of glory, whereunto he is exalted. Some vilified the ministry of Paul, below that of the rest of the apostles, because he had not been conversant with Christ in the flesh, to which Paul answers, away with this fleshly knowledge, "henceforth know we no man after the flesh;" our way to deal with Christ is in a spiritual manner, yea, the blessing is upon this manner, and not on that, "Blessed are they which have not seen, and yet have believed," John. xx. 29. It is said of Mary, his mother, that she had a double conception of Jesus Christ, one in the womb of her body, another in the womb of her soul; the first indeed was more miraculous, the second more beneficial; that was a privilege single to herself; but this was her happiness common to all the chosen, it is the work of the inward man that God accepts; a spiritual touch of Christ by faith, is that which Christ prefers before all touches.
(b). "But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God," this was the command of Christ, instead of touching him, she must go with a message to his apostles, and this was more beneficial both to her and them. The first preacher of his resurrection (besides the angels) was Mary Magdalene; she that before had seven devils cast out of her, had now the holy Spirit within her, she that was but a woman, is now by Christ made an apostle; apostalorum apostola, for to them she was sent, and the message she was to deliver, it was Christ's rising and ascending; and what were they but the gospel, yea, the very gospel of the gospel? This was the first sermon that ever was made by any mortals of Christ's resurrection; and this her fact had some reference unto Eve's fault; a woman was the first messenger of this our joy, because a woman was the first minister of that our sorrow.
(c). But, what means he to speak of the ascension, when as yet we are but upon the resurrection? I suppose this was to prevent their mistake, who might have thought if Christ be risen, why then we shall have his company again as heretofore; No, saith Christ, I am not risen to make any abode with you, or to converse with you on earth as formerly; my rising is in reference to my ascending; look how the stars no sooner rise but they are immediately in their ascendant; so Christ is no sooner risen but he is presently upon his ascending up.
(d). But whither will he ascend? "To his Father and our Father, to his God and our God." Every word is a step or round of Jacob's bidder, by which we may ascend up into heaven: as, -- Father is a name of much good will, there is in it bowels of compassion; Oh! what tenderness is in a father: and yet many a father wants good means to express his good will unto his child; now therefore God is added, that he may not be thought to be defective in that way. Oh, blessed message! this is the voice of a father to his son; "All that I have is thine" Luke xv. 31; now if this father be also God, and if all that is God's be also ours, what can we desire more than all that God hath, or all that ever God was worth? Oh! but here's the question, Whether his Father and God be also ours? That he is Christ's Father, and Christ's God, is without all question; but that his Father should be our father, and that his God should be our God, this were a gospel indeed; O then! what a gospel is this? "Go to my brethren, and say unto them. That Our relations and interests are all but one: the same father that is mine is theirs;" and the same God "that is mine is theirs;" his relations are made ours, and our relations are made his interchangeably. No wonder if Luther tells us, That the best divinity lay in pronouns, for as there is no comfort in heaven without God, and no comfort in God without a father, so neither is there comfort without Father, heaven, or God, without ours, to give us a property in them all. O the blessed news that Christ tells Mary, and that Mary tells us! I ascend "to my Father, and your Father, to my God and your God." Oh! what dull hearts have we that are not more affected with this blessed news? No sooner was Christ risen from the dead, but he takes care in all haste to appear unto Mary; and no sooner he appears to her, but he sends her away in all haste to others, "go to my brethren, and tell it them he would both have Mary, and the rest of the apostles, to hear of his loving kindness betimes in the morning. Why, alas! they had for some days been amazed with sorrow and fear, but now he provides for their joy; and no sooner they hear the news, but they "joy according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil," Isa. ix. 3. Christ's resurrection was a cause of unspeakable joy to them; how is it that we hear the very same glad tidings, and yet we are no more affected with them? Come, Christians, since the occasion extends to us, let us tune our hearts to this key; that as upon Christ's absence, we may "weep with them that weep," so upon his return, we may spring out in joy, and "rejoice with them that rejoice." So much of the first apparition.