Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
PPT 1 Message Title
Noli Me Tangere is the the Latin form of touch me not. Most modern versions translate the verse, stop clinging to me, it should be noted that same versions translate the word as touch the other 32 times it is used in Scripture (Strongs #680)
Last week in my message I mentioned that I did not know why Jesus said, "touch Me not." It troubled me afterwards that I didn't know the answer, so I set out to resolve that issue. In the process I had to sort out and harmonize the 4 gospel accounts of the Resurrection events, here for your instruction are the fruits of that study.
Harmony of the Gospels. Gospel means good news.
4 men wrote at different times for different reasons. I believe there were more than 4 gospels written, but the rest God did not see to it that they were perserved.
PPT 2 Text
Lu 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,
Lu 1:2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word have handed them down to us,
Lu 1:3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write [it] out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;
Notice the word many in verse 1, that is why I said there were probably more than 4 gospels written.
The gospels that have been handed down to us all contain a fair amount of material that overlaps, but they all have places where there are slightly different angles of the same story are told. John's gospel contains the most unique material of stories not covered in the other 3 gospels. For good reason, the other gospels were all written in the 50's and 60's John's was written 30 years later, and for a very specific purpose. To show that Jesus was both God and man, by telling many of His miracles, and that in showing and telling those stories people would come to have eternal life.
PPT 3
John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
With that general understanding in mind, I want to go through the different Gospels and show the resurrection of Jesus, and put the whole narrative together, in what I believe is chronological order. While doing that I want to answer 1 simple question, why on the day of His resurrection did Jesus tell Mary Magdalene not to touch Him. You might say, what's the big deal about that, you'll see.
Let's dig in
PPT 4
Mr 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Mr 16:2 And very early in the morning the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
Mr 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
Mr 16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
There are 3 women in this story, and the stone is rolled away, giving them access to the tomb, We pick up in Matthew:
PPT's 5-7 text
Mt 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
Mt 28:2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
Mt 28:3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow;
Mt 28:4 and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
Mt 28:5 And the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
Mt 28:6 "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
Mt 28:7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
Mt 28:8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Mt 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Mt 28:10 Then Jesus *said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me."
In our first reading, the stone is gone, there are 3 women present, and there are no angels around. In our second version it appears that the angel spoke to them. If you only had one version of the gospel you would not be getting the full picture. Why 2 women in one version and 3 in the other, is this a contradiction? Remember the writers have their own reasons for writing and include the parts of the story they feel the need to tell. The version with two women doesn't say there were "only" two women, perhaps Matthew was writing and thinking to himself I won't include all the ladies because the only two they would know are the ones he spoke of. He doesn't even identify who the "other Mary," was assuming his readers would know. Believe me there are more than two Mary's in the NT. (Mary the mother of Jesus, who is not the other Mary in this story) In fact if you put all the gospel stories together you get a minimum of 5 women at the tomb and perhaps more. (Matthew lists 2; Mark 3; Luke list 4+ Lk 24:1; and John just Mary Magdalene)
You will also notice in Matthew's sequence of events that the women touch Jesus' feet. In the list of women in this passage Mary Magdalene seems to be recorded as present with them. But we know from another Gospel account, she was by herself when she met Jesus and He told her to stop touching Him, that is coming up shortly. For now just note He tells Mary to stop touching Him, but nothing is said to these other women? What is going on here? Why was Mary forbidden?
Back to Matthew his text seems to say that an angel rolled away the stone sat on it, scared the soldiers away, and then told the women Jesus was risen. The problem is that Matthew jumps around in the time line sometimes without telling us that is what he is doing. Let's look back a little further in his gospel and you will see what I mean. This is just a few verses before what we have already read:
PPT 8 text
Mt 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up [His] spirit.
Mt 27:51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split,
Mt 27:52 and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Mt 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
If Matthew hadn't given the explanation in verse 53 we could have thought they rose from the dead when the veil was split in two. Tombs were opened but no one was raised from the dead till later. The bible is very clear on this issue, Jesus is the first one rasied from the dead. But you see how Matthew jumps around in the story line, that is exactly what happened in chapter 28. Here are a couple of those verses again:
PPT 9 Text
Mt 28:3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow;
Mt 28:4 and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
Mt 28:5 And the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified
What you don't see is that there is a period of time between verses 4, and five, and that by the time the women got there the angel on the rock was no longer visible. We will see that in John's gospel:
PPT 10 Text
Joh 20:1 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.
Joh 20:2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
John, only tells this story with Mary being present. The reason for that is probably what follows. He says Mary saw the stone moved, freaked out peers inside sees the empty tomb and thinks that grave robbers or the Jews have stolen His body. She then runs away to tell Peter and John that Jesus body was stolen, leaving the other ladies behind. Since she was the only one to have run to John and Peter to tell them that the body was missing, John may have thought she had gone to the tomb alone, or it may be that he is only concerning himself with the events as Mary Magdalen witnessed them, thus his silence about the others.
So Mary Magadalene is gone, but the other ladies stayed and ventured inside the tomb and that is where they met the angels who speak to them:
PPT 11 Text
Lu 24:1 Now upon the first [day] of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain [others] with them.
Lu 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
Lu 24:3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
Lu 24:4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
Lu 24:5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down [their] faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Mary Magadalene is gone, these others stayed on and met two angels inside the tomb, and one of those angels speaks to them. They then are told by the angel to go tell the disciples Jesus is risen from the dead.
We find that part of the story in Mark 15:7
PPT 12 Text
Mr 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
And Peter, one of the most beautiful phrases in all of the Bible.
While these women are on their way back into the city, Mary Magdalene returns with Peter and John who find the tomb empty and no angels around. They go back to the city perplexed on what this means, and Mary remains outside the tomb weeping.
PPT 13 - 14 Text
Joh 20:11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, [and looked] into the sepulchre,
Joh 20:12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
Joh 20:13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
Joh 20:14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Joh 20:15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Joh 20:16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Joh 20:17 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 your Father; and [to] my God, and your God.
She meets Jesus, He says don't touch me. Some modern versions, and many commentators try to resolve what is going on by saying Jesus says, "stop clinging to Me." As if she was doting too much on Him. But the very thing she did, the other ladies would do a few minutes later, let's read that again in Matthew:
PPT 15
Mt 28:7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
Mt 28:8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Mt 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Mt 28:10 Then Jesus *said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me."
They took hold to His feet and were clinging to Him, but He says nothing of it. This is perhaps just a few moments after He has appeared to Mary Magdalene, and the question is why couldn't she touch Him, but they could? What difference would a few minutes make?
Just so you know I have my sequence of events right, I want you to see this verse:
PPT 16 Text
Mr 16:9 Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared FIRST to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. (emphasis mine)
Let me sum up the sequence of events once more and then we will get to something really good.
Several women go to the tomb (4+?) they see the stone rolled away, and an empty tomb. Mary Magdalene freaks out and runs to tell Peter and John, who were perhaps some place nearby. The other ladies remain and get visited by some angels one of whom tells them to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead. As they are going, Mary returns with Peter and John, they see the empty tomb and leave in bewilderment. Mary remains weeping, looks inside sees angels, then meets Jesus, and is told to not touch Him. She then runs off to tell the disciples, and eventually catches up with the other ladies. Before she does they have a visitation by the Resurrected Lord, just as she did, and touch His feet and are not stopped from doing so.
Now to answer the question, why did Jesus want Mary Magadalene to not touch Him?
He gave the answer to that question.
PPT 17 Text
Joh 20:17 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 your Father; and [to] my God, and your God.
Jesus tells her the reason is because He is going to ascend to His Father. Jesus didn't say stop clinging to me but hurry and thell them I am ascending. He said don't touch me I am ascending to My Father. But if that isn't going to happen for 40 days, why all the fuss? We are not told in the book of Acts that when Jesus ascended into heaven on a cloud that it was either the first or the only time He had done it since His resurrection. I think Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud in the book of Acts was to make clear His bodily resurrection appearances are over until that time He returns again. Otherwise people would continually be claiming that Jesus appeared to them, as the mormons do. I believe that in between Jesus meeting Mary, and Jesus meeting the other ladies He did ascend into heaven and something very important happened.
But wait, we are only talking about a few moments of time, what could have happened in so short a period of time? First we need to stop thinking about time from our perspective. We are told in 2 Peter 3:8 a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day.
PPT 18
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
We always look at that verse to say that the passing of a thousand years of our time is the same to God as the passing of day to us. But it also says the passing of a day to us is as the passing of a thousand years to God.
PPT 19 numbers
1000 years ÷ 24 (hours in a day) = 41.66666666666667 (years per hour)
41.66666666666667 years ÷ 60 (minutes in an hour) = 0.6944444444445 (years per minute)
365 (days) X .69445 = 253.31
If we take that literally, and I don't see any reason why we could not it, means that an hour of heaven time is equivalent to 41.6 years of ours and a minute of heaven time is equivalent to 253.31 days of ours!
In other words Jesus could be gone for what seems to be a few minutes and have spent the equivalent of a years of our time in heaven!
So what important thing did Jesus have to do in heaven, that He didn't want to spend time right then with Mary Magdalene? I'm glad you asked, because the answer is pretty important. Remember those people we read about in Matthew that their graves broke open, and they also were raised from the dead? I don't think that could have happened until something very important happened first.
Listen to me very carefully, and don't hear only half of what I have to say. Jesus dying on the cross did not save us from our sins. That paid the penalty for our sins, but if that was all that was all that was needed everybody would be saved as the Universalists claim.
Let me illustrate what I am trying to say from the story of the first Passover.
God was about to send the death angel through Egypt, and He commanded all the Jews to sacrifice a passover lamb. But it wasn't the killing of the lamb that saved them, but the putting of the blood of the lamb upon their doors.
Let's go back to Moses time. He was told to build a tabernacle
PPT 20
Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
PPT 21 (Mercy seat)
The Mercy seat was the lid on the Ark that symbolically protected the people of God from the 10 commandments.
The Ark of the Covenant Moses made was a copy of the real one in heaven, one of the main differences is that the real one in heaven had two real angels on top of it, and one of them used to be a guy by the name of Lucifer. But he has since been replaced. (Ezekiel 28:14)
Once a year the priest would enter into the Holy of Holies where the ark was and sprinkle blood on it, and that is when the Jewish people's sins were forgiven. Not when the lamb was slain, but when the High Priest but blood on the mercy seat. That was what was necessary for keeping the law away from the people of God. No blood, no mercy seat protection. What the high priest did, was what Christ Himself did, I believe in the moments right after He met Mary, and before He met the other women.
PPT 22
Heb 9:11 But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven's "tent"—the true Holy Place—once and for all.
Heb 9:12 He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all.
That still doesn't explain why Mary couldn't touch Jesus. Yes it does, the OT spells out a lot of things that would make the High Priest ceremonially unclean and unable to perform his duties. If the high priest became cermonially unclean he could not perform his duties for 7 days. One of things which could defile him was that he could not touch a dead body, another was he couldn't touch a menstruating woman, either reason could be the one Mary couldn't touch Him. Mary wasn't technically dead, but spiritually she was, because up until this time all men were considered dead in trespass and sin. Jesus was in His resurrected body, and the difference between living and dead being would be much more apparent to Him. The menstruating part would mean that the priest had been contaminated by the wrong blood. The only blood that could go in the Holy of Holies was the sacrificed lambs blood.
Until Jesus offered His blood in the true holy place He had to remain ceremonially clean, or He couldn't legally serve as High Priest. (Lev. 15:19-24)
Why couldn't Mary touch Him?
Joh 20:17 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 your Father; and [to] my God, and your God.
He had to go to heaven and sprinkle the blood on the altar to complete His work.
PPT 23 Mercy Seat
Close: Thank God for the mercy seat
Jesus dying alone didn't forgive your personal sins. He still had to sprinkle His blood on the mercy seat. Sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat alone, doesnt forgive your sins, but whosever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You still have to repent, and be born again. In the same way that the slaying of the lamb alone did not protect them in Egypt, Jesus dying on the cross does not protect you from the wrath of God, unless the blood has been applied to the door of your heart. (Spiritually speaking)
Close in prayer: Are you 100 per cent sure your sins have been forgiven?
