“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection” (Alexander Ivanov [1835])
(Wikimedia CC public domain; click to enlarge.)
Nope. Wrong. This painting suggests a coolness and a distance that, according to the actual Greek text, weren’t there between Mary Magdalene and the resurrected Jesus.
Compare Matthew 26:32; 28:7-8; Mark 14:28; 16:7, 9-11; Luke 24:10-11
Notice the statement in the Matthew passage that the women, having met the resurrected Christ, “held him by the feet.” This, by itself, is enough to suggest a problem in a common reading of the “Touch me not” passage in John.
I wrote a column about 3.5 years ago that indicated why a lot of what I’ve heard said about that passage is wrong: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765566003/The-gospel-truly-brings-joyful-news.html?pg=all
The proper reading of it is much, much more dramatic and real, in my view.
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