Hengstenberg says, " The reason of the prohibition must be Bought iu the personal character of Mary, and in the passion- ate nature of the touch which sprang from that character. ISlie tliought that the limits which had formerly existed between herself and the Lord {the old style of confidence is a very incor- ?'ec^ic?6f/.) were, now that the Saviour had passed into another form of existence, removed, and that she might now give free course to her feelings without fearing the admixture of any- thing human in her sentiment toward her Lord. But her Lord repelled her : Touch Me not."
Wordsworth says, " The term (in the Greek) indicates not only a prohibition of a particular act, but forbids a habit : i. e., of clinging to Ilim with a bodily touch. And the words, ' I have not ascended,' contain a precept concerning the time when the habit of touching Christ may be exercised. He ia to be touched after He has ascended,— that is. He is then to be truly touched, when He is beyond the reach of the bodily touch. And one of the purposes of His absence and His ascension into heaven was to elicit and exercise that touch, — the touch of faith."
Burgon remarks what a strange thing it is, that " both the old world and the new should have begun witli the same pro- hibition, Touch not."
[But go. ..my brethren. ..say unto them.] This sentence is strikingly full of wisdom, tender thoughtfulness, and kind- ness. Wisely our Lord summons Mary Magdalene to an act of duty to others. He bids her n(jt spend time in demonstrations of affection, but arise and be useful. — Thoughtfully our Lord's first consideration is for His poor scattered disciples. Weak and erring as they had been, He still loved them, and at once sends them a message. He did not mean to cast them off, or forget them. — Kindly He calls them "my brethren." All was pardoned and forgiven. He still regarded them as His dear brethren, — risen, conqueror over the grave as He was, — and would have them look on Him as a'n elder brother. This is the first time our Lord ever called the disciples " brethren."
Bucer thinks that " my brethren" in this place really means •* my brethren according to the flesh :" i. e., James and others, whose faith was weaker y^erhaps than that of the other Apos- tles. But the vast majority of commentators see in the ex- pression nothing of the kind, and regard it only as a term of affection applied to all the Apostles. Calvin properly refers us to Psalm xxii. 22 : " I will declare thy name unto my brethren." See also Heb. ii. 11.
Andrews remarks that the words " my brethren " was " a word to be touched and taken hold of. It was so once when Benha- dad's servant laid hold on the word of the King of Israel, ' He is my brother.' " (1 Kings xx. 32, 33.) He adds that it implied