The Thomas story (John 20:24-29) is one of several incidents where the gospel writers give us evidence of the tangibility of the body of the risen Jesus (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:30, 39-43; 21:12-13). At the same time they acknowledge that his body was not quite the way it had been before; he could pass through locked doors, for example (John 20:19), and could vanish at will (Luke 24:31). So a resurrection body is not identical to the previous physical body (I Corinthians 15:35-53). Yet in the raising of the corpse from the now-empty tomb, there continued to be a genuine physical reality which could do normal actions such as touching people, using everyday objects, and eating.

In English it is possible to read the Mary Magdalene passage (John 20:11-18) as if Jesus perceived that Mary was about to hug him, and he rebuked her intention. But in the Greek text, the grammar (a negative continuous-action imperative) tells us that Mary was not being told not to start a new action, but rather to stop doing what she was presently doing. That means she was already hugging Jesus, and he spoke up to disengage.

How did Jesus say these words, as he released himself from her embrace? Was the tone of his voice harsh or compassionate? Beginning with John Chrysostom (345?-407), many commentators have proposed that Jesus was gently correcting the natural assumption on Mary’s part that things would go back to the way they were before.

With the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44), the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-15), or Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43), anyone would suppose that these individuals would take up their lives where they left off. But Jesus would not. He would remain with his followers a little longer, and then depart.

Thus to grief-stricken Mary in her fierce embrace of Jesus, the line “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father” offers a corrective in two directions. It means “I really am going to be gone;” so it’s going to be different from now on: Mary should not cling to the way life as a follower of Jesus used to be. It also means “I’m not gone yet;” so Mary need not cling to Jesus for a last few precious seconds before he disappears right now; she (and the other disciples) will indeed see him again before he ascends.