Verse 14. And when he saw Jesus standing... 7 But why did Mary, having not yet learned anything from the angels who were asking her, immediately turn back? For as soon as Jesus Christ suddenly appeared behind her, the angels, seeing their Master, immediately stood up with fear and looked at Him, as befits servants. So Maria turned to see who had come to them.

Verse 14... And she did not know that Jesus was...,8 because He appeared in a different form, though humble and ordinary, so as not to strike her.

Verse 15. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why do you weep; whom you seek; She said to Him, "Lord, if Thou hast taken Him, tell me where Thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him."9 Since Jesus Christ appeared in a humble and ordinary form, and moreover in a garden, Mary thought that it was a gardener. Nor did she recognize the voice of Jesus Christ, because he was not the same as ever. She assumed, as stated above, that the body of Jesus Christ was transferred to another, safer place, and carried out by the gardener (Tell me, she says, where thou hast laid Him: and I will take Him, and I will lay Him in another place, safe from all evil intentions). (Whoever considers the Lord to be the Creator and Provider only of those who are to be born and die, takes Him for a gardener. That is why the Lord avoids the touch of such a person, since, in the opinion of such a person, He has not yet entered into His former dignity and equality with the Father.

Verse 16. Jesus said to her, "Mary." And she said to him, "Rabbi, this is what is said to the Master."10 Now, changing his voice and appearance to a more familiar one, Jesus Christ was pleased that Mary should recognize him; and immediately recognizing Him, she cried out with great joy: "Teacher! (But how could Mary turn away and speak directly to the Lord? Having said what she had said before, Mary turned to the angels to see if there were any more, or to ask who it was that had so frightened them; and then, when Jesus Christ called her, she immediately turned to Him.)

Verse 17. Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me,"1 Mary threw herself to embrace the feet of Jesus Christ, as she had done before, and Jesus Christ restrained her from treating Him as before, because His body had already become divine.

Verse 17... For I did not sigh unto My Father... 2 Jesus Christ said this to Mary not for anything else, says Chrysostom, but only so that she would know that He was now higher and more revered. Whoever wants to ascend to God the Father together with the body has obviously already rejected the corruption of the body. But a little before she and the other Mary took hold of the feet of Jesus Christ, as the Evangelist Matthew says (8:9), and He did not restrain them from doing so, giving them the opportunity to convince themselves by touch that He was not a ghost; but now he does not allow it, because Mary has already forgotten about that vision and touch and did not believe.

Verse 17... Go therefore unto my brethren, and speak unto them: I will ascend unto my Father and your Father, and unto my God and to your God.3 But Jesus Christ was not to ascend immediately, but forty days later; Why then does He say, "I ascend?" Of course, in order to elevate Mary's thoughts even more, to confirm that He is now higher and more Divine, to convince that now we need to look at Him with greater reverence. In addition, the word ascend here means – I desire to ascend, and therefore this action can also refer to further time. Jesus Christ reminds the disciples of what He often told them before He was put to death. He called His disciples brothers, because He Himself was a Man and was related to them in humanity. In a different sense Jesus Christ called God the Father His Father, and in another sense – the Father of the disciples: His own – by nature, as consubstantial with Him, and the Father of the disciples – according to creation and providence, as His creations and worthy of His providence (He also called Him God His own and the disciples, as people in general. and here He separated Himself? Because, although He was a Man and a brother of the disciples in His human nature, He was far superior to them because of His union with the Divine nature and sinlessness).

Verse 18. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and said this to her...,4 and that he had spoken these things to her (For it is very probable that the disciples, when they heard this, either did not believe the woman as before, or believed her because her story had been confirmed by Peter and John, and began to grieve that they also had not been vouchsafed such a vision, – then Jesus Christ appears to them on the same day. At first, He aroused in His disciples a desire to see Him, and then, when this desire was strong in them, He appeared to them as well).

Verse 19. And I am later on that day from the Sabbath, and the door is shut, where His disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst... 5 In the evening, Jesus Christ came, because then the disciples were especially afraid, and then everyone gathered. And He did not knock at the door, so as not to frighten them, but passed through the locked ones, like God, and also because His body had already become thin, light and pure. He stood in the middle so that all could see Him.

Verse 19... And she said to them, Peace be unto you... (i.e. do not be troubled. When Jesus Christ was dying, He also left peace to His disciples: "Peace I leave with you," He said (John 14:27). Jesus Christ gave joy to His wives, His disciples, before any conversation, because this sex was condemned to sorrow, and to the disciples He grants peace), because they assumed enmity on the part of Jews and pagans.

Verse 20. And these rivers, showing them His hand (and nose) and His side... 1 Find and read the interpretation of the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Luke necessary for the explanation of this verse, beginning with the place where it says: "And that is the story that was on the way... to the words: "And yet they do not believe for joy and wonder... (Luke 24:35; 41).

Verse 20... For the disciples rejoiced, having seen the Lord.2 Do you see the fulfillment of the words of the Lord? Before His sufferings, He said to His disciples: "And when I see you, your heart shall rejoice" (John 16:22).

Verse 21. And Jesus said unto them, Peace be unto you... 3 After Jesus Christ had eaten a portion of the baked fish and honeycomb that had been given to Him, as the Evangelist Luke said (24:42), the disciples were convinced that it was Him; and now Jesus Christ calms their agitation, which has taken place, probably from joy, so that they may be attentive to what He intends to say.

Verse 21... As the Father sent Me, and I send you.4 Even before His sufferings on the Cross, Jesus Christ said to God the Father: "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, and I have sent them into the world" (John 17:18). Read the explanation of these words. By entrusting His work to His disciples and appointing them to His successors, Jesus Christ thereby lifted up their spirits.