You Can't HANDLE The Truth!

No, I'm not referring to the courtroom exchange between Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and Jessep (Jack Nicholson) in the movie "A Few Good Men", where those words meant that Kaffee was not capable of dealing with what really happened. This post is about "The Truth" (Jesus) being physically handled by Mary Magdalene.

Remember when Jesus appeared to Mary outside of His tomb and told her, "Do not touch me for I have not yet ascended to the Father."?
I wonder what that was about. People had been touching Him for years. Why not now?

Possibly, it had to do with her being ceremonially unclean (Numbers 19:11), since she was there when His body was being prepared for burial, and may have hugged or otherwise touched His lifeless body.

It could also be that a clue lies in the word "touch", which I think would have been better translated as "cling". That gives the verse a little different flavor: "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father"
With that in mind, the idea becomes to not cling to His physical body, because it will not always be here.

Jesus says in John 14:25-26,
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

and in verses 28-29,
"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe."

You need to be letting go of this physical form of Me because My kingdom is not of this world. Instead, learn to set your mind on things that are above.