John 20:17

Μή μου ἅπτου, “noli me tangere,” not because it was indecorous (Luke 7:38); nor because she wished to assure herself by touch that the appearance was real, a test which He did not prevent His disciples from applying; nor because her embrace would disturb the process of glorification through which His body was passing; nor, following Kypke's note, can we suppose that Jesus forbids Mary to worship Him [although K. proves that ἅπτεσθαι is used of that clinging to the knees or feet which was adopted by suppliants], because He accepts Thomas' worship even before His ascension; but, as He Himself says, οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέβηκα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου, “for I have not yet ascended to my Father,” implying that this was not His permanent return to visible fellowship with His disciples. Mary, by her eagerness to seize and hold Him, showed that she considered that the μικρόν, the “little time,” of John 16:16, was past, and that now He had returned to be for ever with them. Jesus checks her with the assurance that much had yet to happen before that. His disciples must at once be disabused of that misapprehension. Therefore, πορεύου … ὑμῶν, “Go to my brothers [ἀδελφούς μου, here for the first time; in anticipation of the latter part of the sentence, cf. Mark 3:35] and tell them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God”. He thus forms a relationship which bound Him to them more closely than His bodily presence. His place by right is with God. But His love binds Him as certainly to His people on earth as His rights carry Him to God. The form of the expression is dictated by His desire to give them assurance. They had no doubt God was His God and Father. He teaches them that, if so, He is their God and Father. ἔρχεται … αὐτῇ, Mary carries forthwith the Lord's message to the disciples, cf. Mark 16:10; Matthew 28:10; Luke 24:10.