on John 20:17-1917Jesus 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. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19Then 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. (John 20:17‑19).
WE observe, in John 20, according to verse 17, Jesus said to Mary, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father;” and in verse 27, to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands,” &c. How deep the condescension of the grace, pity, and love of Christ in thus dealing with Thomas! How sharp the rebuke! As His pitiful condescension of Thomas’s weakness, so was the rebuke sharp “Reach hither thy finger,” &c. And the rebuke was effectual, it did its proper work. Did ha reach forward his hand, and put it in the print of the nails? No! And yet he had vowed not to believe that Jesus was risen again, unless he could put his fingers into the print of the nails. He had made a fleshly vow, a self-willed vow, but he is ashamed and confounded, and instead of putting forth his fingers, he utters the blessed words of faith, “My Lord and my God,” and then he received fresh commendation and a fresh rebuke.
“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Oh! let us be the blessed ones, who believe without sight.
Now, observe, the Lord says to Mary, “Touch me not.” She needed instruction, because, doubtless, in her own imagination, she had recovered her intercourse with Christ; but the Lord gives her something better than she looked for. “Go to my brethren,” &c. As much as to say, You shall all touch me and embrace me by-and-by. But how? “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, how glorious is faith! I can’t doubt the certainty of the eye, but if there be any uncertainty, let faith have the victory. Faith believes the testimony of the Spirit of God. And don’t we believe the words, “We have an unction from the Holy One?” God has settled forever His word in heaven. Let us remember that we have the very uttermost of testimony that Christ is the first-born of all creation. “Head over His body the Church, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all;” just as the first woman was the fullness of the first man. Until Adam saw Eve he had not fullness; but she was his fullness. We have now no longer to count ourselves at Adam’s children; we were that by nature, and our distance from God could be measured by no one but Himself. We are the body of the firstborn. In John 17 Jesus says, “As thou hast sent me into the world, so have I sent them into the world.” I would desire to ask this question. Do we consider how great the glory of being in this world, if true to ourselves and true to Christ? Acting in the world, and so acting as to show them that Jesus is living at the right hand of God. It is not only the business of the first day, but every day of the week, in every station. Christ, as having put away our sins, is our Priest, our Head; so is He an example to us; and if you and I track the steps of Jesus, we shall find that “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business,” was always before Him if we follow Him, we shall have the satisfaction, even in this evil world, of knowing that God orders all for our good, and that will make every bitter thing sweet, and every temptation glorious, and this will shed abroad our love one for another. Then how glorious the hope, “Behold, I come!” and how continually the answer should be heard, “Come, Lord Jesus,” This is wisdom, prudence, and thus we are able to behave ourselves aright, not only in the world, but in the Church of God, where we have most temptation of the flesh. “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”