Matthew Poole and continuators on John 20:17

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

There are in this Verse two, no mean difficulties, the one about the sense of the Prohibition, when our Saviour forbad this woman to touch him; when after his Resurrection, Matth. 28.9. he suffered the Women to hold him by the feet; and himself, ver. 17. of this Chapter, called Thomas to thrust his hands into the hole of his side. There are many opinions about it, the best, seems to be the opinion of those, who think that our Saviour saw Mary too fond, and too much in the imbraces of her Lord, as if she thought he had been raised up to such a converse with them, as he had before his Death; and this error is all which he tasks her of, not forbidding her any kind of touching him, so far as to satisfie her self that he was rruly risen from the dead: but restraining any such gross conception; The other difficulty, What force of a reason there could be for her not touching him, because he had not yet Ascended? Is much solved by that answer to the former; minding Mary, that he was to Ascend to his Father, tho he had not yet Ascended; and therefore not to be injoyed by them with so much freedom and familiarity as before.

But (saith he) go and tell my Brethren, that is, my Disciples, whom the Apostle tells us he is not ashamed to call Brethren, Heb. 2.11, 12.

That I Ascend, that is, I shall shortly ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Tho I shall very suddenly leave them, yet I shall go but to my Father, and my God, and to their Father and their God.

Marginal references: Psal. 22.22.; Chap. 16.28.; Eph. 1.17.