"Touch Me Not"
Three words from which have come many conjectures, various theories, and much confusion. In the words of James, "My brethren these things ought not so to be."
The purpose of these few remarks is to set forth actually what Jesus said as is recorded in the Greek, by the apostle John. It is not the point in question as to which language Jesus spoke, but the question is, what do we have recorded by the apostle?
In John 20:17, the American Standard Version reads, "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." The question again, did Jesus say, "Touch me not"? Or in other words, "Do not touch me," implying that she was about to lay her hands upon the risen Master.
Some have said that Jesus would not let Mary touch him, but eight days later he asked Thomas to touch him. Therefore, the conclusion that is put forth is, something happened to the body of the risen Jesus between the time he forbade Mary from touching him and the time he asked Thomas to touch his body. "With Mary he was untouchable; with Thomas he was touchable."
Oddly enough, a parallel passage to John 20 states that the disciples of the Lord took hold of his feet and worshipped him the same day that he arose from the dead. An angel of the Lord told Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, on the morning of his resurrection, "And go quickly, and tell his disciples, he is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All 'hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not; go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me." (Matt. 28:7-10.) Why would Jesus forbid Mary to touch him in John 20 and permit her (at least 'they') to touch him in Matthew 28, keeping in mind that these two incidents happened on the same day with but little time between them?
John 20:17 is a prohibition. The Greeks had two ways of expressing prohibitions. If something was already going on, and was to be stopped, "me" with the present imperative was used. If something had not already begun, and was to be prohibited from beginning, "ou" with the aorist subjunctive was used. Mr. H. P. V. Nunn in his A Short Syntax of New Testament Greek, page 84, expresses it this way: "The Present Imperative forbids the continuance of an action already in progress . . . . The Aorist Subjunctive forbids the doing of an action without any regard to its progress or frequency, and it is most generally used with regard to an action not already begun." (Emphasis, H.P.V.N.) (This same information is set forth in the following Greek Grammars: Beginner's Greek Grammar, W. H. Davis, pp. 168f; A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Dana and Mantey, pp. 301f; A Short Grammar of the Greek Testament, Robertson and Davis, p. 300; Beginner's Greek Book, Benner and Smyth, p. 135.)
The question now is, What is the prohibition that is used in John 20:17? According to the Westcott and Horttext we read, "Me mou haptou." "Mon" is the pronoun for "me" in the sentence. "Me" is the negative. "Haptou" is the verb. "Haptou" is conjugated, "second person, singular, present, imperative, middle, from hapto." Analytical Greek Lexicon, Harper, p. 49. The verb "hapto" in the middle voice means, "to fasten one's self to, adhere to, cling to," Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon. Thus we see that the first prohibition that we listed is used. This is, "The Present Imperative forbids the Continuance of an action already in progress." Our conclusion is that Jesus told Mary to "loose herself from him," or to "stop clinging to him." Jesus did not say, "Touch me not. Or in other words, Do not touch me, implying that she was about to lay her hands upon the risen Master." What Jesus did tell Mary was for her to loose herself from him.
For the student's consideration, he will note with interest the reading of the Revised Standard Version, 1946, of John 20:17: "Jesus said to her, Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Of like interest is the translation given in the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1950, "Jesus said to her: Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God."
As the disciples "came and took hold of his feet," Matthew 28:9, so, also, Mary took hold of the Lord and was told to "Stop clinging to me," in John 20:17.