The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1876-03-22
FoR THE CENTRAL PsEsBYrERIAS.
EXPOSITION OF JOHN Xxx: II.
BY REV. H. H. HAYES.
No. 1.


'Jesus saith unto her, touch me not for am
not yet ascended to my Father but go to my breth-
rem and say unto them, ascend unto my Father and
your Father; and to my God and your God.
Before giving my exposition Of the above verse,
it may be well to say that an article recently ap-
peared over the signature G :" in another paper,
very nearly embodying the views which | wish to
present What will here say is the substance Of
sermon preached by me, April 4ah, 1875, in my
church at Fsrmville, Virginia then before the
Presbytery of West Hanover, April S0th, 1875
and finally. afterwards in the First Presbyterian
church of Richmond, Virginia had never heard
the exposition given from any one else. But am
glad that &c" has come to my support. The
agreement gives strength to the views taken.
There has been veil of mystery clothing
this address of our Lord to Mary Magda-
lene. Commentators have been much trOu-
bled to know how to interpret His words on
this occasion; and have not yet seen any
commentary which gives satisfaction about
this matter. In my studies of the relation
and connection existing between the Old and
New Testament teachings, l have reached
conclusion about the meaning of this verse,
which is satisfactory to myself, and may
prove so to others. l believe that the verse
contains a most interesting and important
teaching about the priestly work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. After careful comparison
of the records of the several evangelists, it
is evident to me that these words were spoken
to Mary Magdalene when she made second
visit to the sepulchre on the resurrection
morn. Let it here be noted that these evan
gelists make no attempt at an agreement Of
records. 0ne tells events sometimes 10 an
apparently different order from others and
neither one tells all that happened. Some
things related by one are omitted by others,
etc. But the great truth aimed at is suS-
tanned by all. When Mary Magdalene made
her FIRST visit to the sepulchre, she was &C.
companied by other women. So Mark and
Luke tell u.s. They came wondering who
would roll away the stone for them, that they
might " snoint" the body of their Lord
Mark xvi 1. But they found the stone
rolled away; and saw angels, who said,
"Why seek ye the living among the dead !
He is not here, but is risen. Go your way,
tell his disciples, and Peter, that be gOeth be-
fore you into Gahlee there shall ye see him,
as he said unto you" Notice, that this is
the first visit, and also, the first message.
At this time they did not see Jesus at all.
The women " "departed from the sepulchre
with fear and great JOY, and did run to bring
his disciples word. Matt. xviii: s.
"Neither said they anything to any man ION
the way for they were afraid" Mark xvi;
8. "And returned from the sepulchre, and
told all these things unto the eleven, and to
all the rest. MARY Msgdalene, and Joanna,
and Mary the mother of James, and other
women And the words seemed to them as
idle tales, and they believed them not -
Luke xiv: Oil. John says Xxx: l, p
that Mary Magdslene, after seeing that the
sepulchre was open and empty, ran and came
"to Simon Peter and to the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, and told them the great
tidings. Luke xiv: II, says, "Then arose
Peter and ran unto the sepulchre, &C., saw
all for himself, and departed, John Xxx; $40
says that Peter and that other disciple "
John both ran to the sepulchre, as soon as
Mary Magdalene had delivered her tidings !;
that both entered and examined the sepul-
chre; and then returned to their own home.
But they left Mary Nagdalsne at the sePuk
chrs, verse IL So of course she must have
returned to it after her visit in company with
the other women. And as yet no one has
seen Jesus. All of the other eVangelists
omit this record of her second visit Only
John speaks of it, Peter and John saw no
angels. But after they were gone, "twO
angels in white are seen by Mary Magda-
lene, when she stopped down and looked into
the sepulchre. John Xxx: II, II. And verse
13. She tells them positively of her ignO-
rance as to what has become Of her Lord
Of course then she has not seen Him yet.
But when she turned away (verses 14-18,
Jesus met her; forbade her to touch Him
and gave her message to the disciples
Then she came and told the disciples thai
she had seen the Lord, and that He haC
spoken these things to her.