18.01.07 Mk. 16:9; Jn. 20:11-17
JESUS WITH MARY MAGDALENE
Mk. 9 Early on the first day of the week, after He had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons.
Jn. 11 But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” — which means “Teacher.”[1]
17 “Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending
to My Father and your Father — to My God and your God.”
In the closing comments of this narrative Jesus told Mary to go and tell the disciples what she had just witnessed. As previously stated, women were not considered viable witnesses and their ideas were generally considered meaningless. So by this action, Jesus underscored the importance of women and, thereby, their status was elevated.
“Supposing He was the gardener.” Mary had mistakenly believed that Jesus was the gardener. However, theologically, He was precisely that. In the book of Genesis Adam lived in the Garden of Eden and now Jesus was the “Second Adam,” and hence, “The Gardener.”
The phrase “Don’t cling to Me,” emphasizes “clinging” onto Jesus, as opposed to Thomas, who touched Jesus to feel His wounds. Some translations read, “Don’t touch me.”
18.01.07.Q1 Is Mark 16:9-20 authentic?
Some modern translations have a notation stating, “These verses do not appear in the most trusted manuscripts of the New Testament.” The implication is that these were added by scribes and were not part of the original gospel. This notice is based upon the fact that these verses do not appear in the Codex Vaticanus or the Codex Sinaiticus. However, what these scholars do not reveal is that these manuscripts agree with each other slightly more than 3,000 times.[2] No other ancient records have such a high consistency of accuracy in transmission. Therefore, the notice is unwarranted as it can be assured the passage in question was in the original text.
Only later manuscripts have Mark 16:9-20 and these are considered inferior to the older ones. Textual critics say that the style of Greek is so dramatically different that the latter portion could not have been written by the author of the first portion. However, that does not mean that that the gospel was intended to end at Mark 16:8. Furthermore, Mark could have had a different scribe write that portion of Scripture. The reason for the change is unknown and the answer lies only with God.
[1]. “Rabbouni” is an affectionate and endearing term also found in Mark 10:51.
[2]. Burgon, The Causes of Corruption in the Traditional Text. 251-52, 259.