Inconsistent Jesus
John 20:17: Jesus said [to Mary Magdalene], "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
John 20:27: Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, "Put your finger here ; see my hands. Reach out your and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Two stories.
The first has Jesus telling Mary not to hold on to him for he has not yet returned to the Father. The second has Jesus telling Thomas to touch him.
The first has Jesus telling Mary to return to tell his brothers of his resurrection.
The second has Thomas confessing Jesus as Lord and God, in defiance of Emperor Domitian's title.
Why would Jesus tell Mary not to hold him, but for Thomas to touch him?
Why would Jesus refer to his subjects as brothers and allow Thomas to confess him as Lord?
While I think much could be said about the doctrine of the Ascension, what is currently on my mind is the personal response of Jesus to disciples in two different places. What Mary needed was not a reassurance that it was Jesus; she needed an expanded picture of who Jesus was becoming: Lord and God. Jesus says, "Do not cling to me: I am bigger than who you want to cling to."
Thomas, on the other hand, had all the resources to understand who Jesus had become: Lord and God, but he did not believe that the same Jesus had been risen--he wants to see the evidence that it was this crucified Jesus, scars and all, who is risen. Once he knows it is the real, flesh and blood Jesus, he's all set to see how big Jesus is. Jesus says, "Stop doubting and believe it's me, your friend."
Jesus met both people where they were. He challenged both of their shortcomings. He did this in different ways. The personal Jesus is the King of the Cosmos and knows his subjects personally.
John 20:27: Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, "Put your finger here ; see my hands. Reach out your and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Two stories.
The first has Jesus telling Mary not to hold on to him for he has not yet returned to the Father. The second has Jesus telling Thomas to touch him.
The first has Jesus telling Mary to return to tell his brothers of his resurrection.
The second has Thomas confessing Jesus as Lord and God, in defiance of Emperor Domitian's title.
Why would Jesus tell Mary not to hold him, but for Thomas to touch him?
Why would Jesus refer to his subjects as brothers and allow Thomas to confess him as Lord?
While I think much could be said about the doctrine of the Ascension, what is currently on my mind is the personal response of Jesus to disciples in two different places. What Mary needed was not a reassurance that it was Jesus; she needed an expanded picture of who Jesus was becoming: Lord and God. Jesus says, "Do not cling to me: I am bigger than who you want to cling to."
Thomas, on the other hand, had all the resources to understand who Jesus had become: Lord and God, but he did not believe that the same Jesus had been risen--he wants to see the evidence that it was this crucified Jesus, scars and all, who is risen. Once he knows it is the real, flesh and blood Jesus, he's all set to see how big Jesus is. Jesus says, "Stop doubting and believe it's me, your friend."
Jesus met both people where they were. He challenged both of their shortcomings. He did this in different ways. The personal Jesus is the King of the Cosmos and knows his subjects personally.
posted by Aaron Perry at
10:20 AM
4 Comments:
hey, thanks for this post AP. I had someone ask me this question back around easter time and I came at it from the same direction as you have.
I forget what writer it was, but one guy really went to town with the Mary passage saying Jesus ascended in between Mary & Thomas for a brief time to do a work on the mercy seat and whatnot. I just don't buy it.
AP: I agree with you on why Jesus responded to Mary And Thomas, and it should come as no surprise that I disagree with your use of the words "becoming" and "became". This of course is due to our differences in Christology.
Matthew: I was talking to DeNeff one night and he suggested that a characteristic of Christ's resurrected body was an ability to instantaneous to "travel" (using that term loosely) between the phenomenal and noumenal. As support he cited the Thomas passage and Emmaus Road passage.
hey dave,
i don't think it's differences in Christology. i don't think there's an ontological differences in Jesus before and after the ascension, but certainly a titular difference. i don't think anyone could confess Jesus "Lord and God" as Thomas did (which is in direct opposition to Domitian) before the ascension because this is a political, as well as theological, title.
The ascension makes Jesus someone (though not something) different than he is between resurrection and his return to the Father.
THanks for commenting!
OK...I was scared u had veered into the paths of heresy and where suggesting that Jesus was not always God, but through his death and resurrection was given a deity status. On first glance, I think I can agree with a changing in title.
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