Do Not Cling to Me

A God we can handle is an idol

The week before Jesus died the disciples headed into Jerusalem. When they got there nothing was working out the way that they thought it would. There must’ve been so much confusion. The disciples responded differently to the bewilderment of their crashed expectations. Some of them ran, left town all together. Some of them hid watching everything from a safer distance. And then— some of them stayed, really stayed. Till the very bitter end.

I love Mary Magdalene with something I can only describe as kinship, a kinship that doesn’t belong to the laws of this land, of course, but a kinship that makes my soul feel like she is a sisterly companion, a trusted sage. I feel I know her.

We are never told the specifics of her past, but we know that she was needy, a seven demons kind of needy. She was one of a group of women who traveled with Jesus. During the time of Jesus women were segregated from men and excluded from many aspects of public and social life, and yet, she took her place at his feet. Given the culture it’s easy to understand why Jesus’ openness to women’s company and friendship would’ve been perceived as dangerous. It’s perhaps also why the evangelists were rather quiet on the subject. We hardly know anything of substance about this group of women following Jesus around like men. But we do know this:

Mary Magdalene is always the first woman mentioned in any list of the women, the same way that Peter is the first man mentioned. The text gives us far more information about Peter of course, but Mary Magdalene is impossible to ignore.

Follower of Jesus

Apostle to the apostles

The Toweress

The smaller group of disciples- the ones who did not run or hide, the ones who stayed till the bitter end- were mostly women. They were close enough to speak with Jesus. This showed a nearness. Their nearness was proximal, yes, but it was also emotional, relational. The women wept, and Jesus died.

The body of Jesus. It was left on the cross, and this was intended to be a reminder to the people: Do not cross Rome. The bodies of those crucified were discarded into a dumpster because defying Rome denied you a proper burial. But Joseph of Arimathea, who was part of the ruling council, went to Pilot and asked for an exemption. He believed in Jesus in secret, and he had an empty tomb nearby. He was a wealthy man. He took Jesus there to give him a proper burial. The women watched.

The burial was being done hastily because Sabbath was coming. The women, they wanted to do more but the timing and the law it didn’t allow for it. But as soon as they could they gathered the spices they wanted and went to do what they were not able to do on Friday which was give more respectful attention to the body of their friend and teacher. All four gospels report the women as the first visitors to the empty tomb.

In John we’re told that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. She found the tomb empty. She ran in great distress to tell Peter and John that Jesus’ body had been stolen. All three of them returned to the tomb and seeing that it was indeed empty, the two men returned to their homes. But Mary Magdalene was inconsolable. She couldn’t leave. She looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been. They asked her why she was weeping, and she answered, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’

She turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know it was him. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ She supposed him to be the gardener. She said to him, ‘Sir if you carried him away, just tell me where you’ve laid him, and I will take him away.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned to him. She said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabouni,’ which means “teacher”.

Jesus was unrecognizable to Mary until she heard him say her name. How many times in Scripture did those who knew Jesus in earthly life not recognize him risen? But the moment he says her name Mary knew. It was their proximity. It was their nearness. It was their relationship. Theirs must’ve been one of great intimacy and I’m sure Mary was overcome with emotion when she realized that Jesus wasn’t dead. What did she do in those moments? Did she weep? Did she dance? Did she fall to the ground and hold onto his feet?

They were so close!

So, why does Jesus then say, ‘Do not cling to me'?

‘Do not cling to me.’

‘I have not ascended yet.’

In Greek the word for “cling” is spoken in middle voice. It is something between active and passive. It implies that Mary is both acting and being acted upon. She actively recognizes Jesus, sees him, knows him, but possibly…

…she needs to receive something new about him.

Do not cling to me.

Mary Magdalene had to stop clinging to the Jesus she had known in order to recognize the risen Christ. While I don’t think Jesus in the tomb is any different than Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, I do think that Mary Magdalene is being asked to know him differently. Jesus, of the first century, was a carpenter from Nazareth, who was followed and well known by a very small group of people. But Mary is being asked to not keep him there in that historical place and time, clinging to what is familiar. She is told to step back and take in what is new.

I know I have a view of Jesus that has comforted me over the years, cherished images that have served me well until…

…Jesus reveals himself to me newly.

And then,

I am told not to cling.

I am told to quit clinging to the images of Jesus that have locked him in time and place, that have kept him small and tidy, that have conformed him to Teacher only, never Lord. The Lord who is still very much alive in this world, more real than anything I could ever hold on to.

Mary Magdalene witnessed a gruesome death of a dear friend, a death she never saw coming.

She waited and wept through that dreadful Saturday, bewildered by how quickly her world come crashing down, everything she thought she knew for certain dashed with no other conviction, except to just keep caring for the Teacher that she loved.

She arrived broken hearted to an inexplicably empty tomb.

Then she ran to her friends.

She met a mystifying stranger.

She adjusted her vision.

And she clung no more.

What Mary supposed was the end was in fact a new beginning. It might’ve been the end of everything she comfortably knew and could hold onto, but it was just the beginning of resurrection and the return of Jesus in his heavenly glory.

A God we can handle is an idol. There are so many people who help me to consistently pray for the gift of recognition when I wonder again and again who God is. In Mary’s example and my community’s urging I can let go with confidence knowing that any dark night of reckoning can always be followed by a new dawn of renewed faith.