Go

“Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17).

Risen Christ (Olga Bakhtina)

When Christ rose from the Dead, the first person we are told who encountered Him was Mary Magdalene.

I have been reflecting on this.  I have often wondered about the Blessed Virgin.  The sinless Mother of Christ was His first follower – His first disciple – and she was the one who had followed Him even prior to His birth.  She was His most loyal disciple.  Her actions were those that He most greatly valued and preached about…

“As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’  He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’” (Luke 11:27-28).

In that passage, Christ is not rejecting the contribution of His mother, but instead, He is praising her contribution as something GREATER than being the PHYSICAL vessel that carried God physically in her womb and nourished Him physically with her body.  He is praising her as the one who heard the Word of God and obeyed It…

And in this I wonder if God and the Angels told the Blessed Virgin about the Resurrection first.  The Resurrected Christ did not say to the Magdelene, go and tell my mother that I am risen from the dead.  And this seems strange to me, coming from a Person who had wept for the widow and mother of the dead son who he had resurrected from the dead only some short time earlier…

It seems strange that Christ neglected to pass the message on to His Beloved Mother – who had suffered so much for love of Him and sacrificed so much for love of Him.  It seems strange also that the Blessed Virgin was not one of those who ran to the Tomb with the disciples who Christ loved.  When Peter, John and Matthew ran to the tomb, the Virgin was not with them.  Was it because she did not want to see her So?  Certainly not.  What mother of a dead child would give up a chance for one more embrace, or even a look at their living face?

Rather, it seems that the Blessed Virgin did not run to the tomb because she already understood the message that Christ gave to the Magdalene…

“Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17).

Christ did not withdraw.  Rather, He showed His Glorius Resurrected Self and then immediately instructed His disciple to GO…  He was not resurrected for kisses and caresses in this world.  His purpose was far greater than our mere human minds could imagine…  The Resurrection is the first step in the message of salvation.  And the first thing that the Risen Christ did was to instruct the Magdalene…

“Go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).

The relationship between the Magdalene and Christ was reordered – not rejected – when Christ instructed her not to CLING to Him…

And this is what I feel that the Blessed Virgin did not run to the Tomb, for she understood the command of the Father far greater than any other disciple.  Because she understood that Christ Resurrected not for us to stay by the tomb in the garden, but for us to GO – out into the world – and gather up more branches for the Eternal Vine…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.