148. How then can it be solved, unless the four evangelists are believed to have spoken at different times; so that they mention different women and different visions? Finally, some come with ointment on the first day of the Sabbath, others without ointment on the evening of the Sabbath. The name of these women is expressed, they signify those who followed the Lord from Galilee.
In order that no harsh difficulty of a thorny interpretation may offend at the end, where pleasant things may have been presumed; now consider us about to lower the sails of our completed discourse, since we have come to port: and the ship which has crossed the seas with a swift course, when it begins to approach the shore, is hindered by hidden rocks in its course. Therefore, let the discussion not cling to me like a sluggish helmsman on the sandy shores, as if the journey should be made slowly in the blind shallows rather than swiftly; so that the speech may not open up to us with too many cracks.
First of all, that which is written must be considered: 'In the evening of the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, the Lord rose' (Matthew 28:1). This is how it goes: 'In the evening of the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For it was not on the Sabbath day (since they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment) (Luke 23:56); but after the Sabbath day, during the night, he rose again.' Finally, those who came in the morning, although very early, already knew that the Lord had risen.
Thus, it must be observed that the resurrection did not take place on Sunday morning, the first day after Sabbath, nor on the Sabbath itself. For how could the three days be fulfilled? He did not rise in the evening of the last day, but in the evening of the night, as the Greek says, which means 'late.' And 'late' signifies both the hour at sunset and the slowness of any event; just as if you were to say, 'It was suggested to me late,' that is, 'slowly.' He arrives late, that is, he arrives after the appointed time has passed: and even if he arrives in the early morning of the following day, it is still late, when the time for action has already been wasted. It is also late in the deep night, so that if you say: He rose late to work at night, that is, not at evening time, but in the deep night.
152. Therefore, women have the authority to approach the tomb, especially when the guards are resting; and the guards themselves are even more frightened because they woke up from sleep. Finally, even the assembled chief priests confirm that this happened at night, saying to the guards: Say, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we were asleep' (Matthew 28:13). For they immediately seize upon the excuse of fraud based on what they learned from the guards. For John, early in the morning, while it was still dark, indicates that Mary Magdalene had come to him and to Peter, and yet she is unaware of the resurrection (John 20:2); for surely if it had happened when the day was growing late, it could have been made known immediately.
153. It is morning, and still Peter does not know, John does not know. Did the Lord tolerate the disciples' uncertainty about His death for a longer time, to whom immediately an angel, immediately the Lord Himself, sent the message of the accomplished event? And so that you may know what happened during the night, some women do not know, others know: those who observed during the nights and days know, those who withdrew do not know. One Mary Magdalene does not know, according to John (John 20:15): the other Mary Magdalene knows, according to Matthew (Matthew 28:9); for the same person could not both know beforehand and then not know afterwards. Therefore, if there are many Marys, perhaps there are also many Magdalenes, since that is a personal name of places.
Finally, recognize that the other is different. She is allowed to hold the feet of the Lord; touching the Lord is prohibited for her. She deserved to see an angel, but when she first came, she saw no one. She told the disciples that the Lord had risen; she signifies that he has been taken. She rejoices, but she weeps. Christ has already appeared to him in his glory, but she is still seeking the dead. She saw the Lord and believed, but she could not recognize him when she saw him. She worshiped with faithful spirit, while this one was troubled with doubtful sorrow.
155. Indeed, it is rightly forbidden to touch the Lord; for we do not touch Christ with physical touch, but with faith: For I have not yet ascended to my Father (John 20:17); that is, I have not yet ascended to the position that you seek as one who seeks the living among the dead. And therefore, he is sent to the stronger ones, whose example he may learn to believe, so that they may proclaim his resurrection.
156. Just as in the beginning, woman was the author of sin, man the executor of error: so now she who had tasted death first, saw resurrection first, in the order of guilt and remedy. And lest perpetual guilt should bear reproach among men: she who had transferred guilt to man, transferred also grace, and compensated for the ancient downfall with the evidence of resurrection. Through the mouth of woman, death had progressed before, through the mouth of woman, life is restored.
But because constancy is necessary for preaching, and the female sex is weaker for carrying out tasks, the duty of evangelizing is entrusted to men. For just as through Jesus the guilt of women is not only dissolved but also grace is multiplied, so that she may persuade many, whom she had deceived before as one person, so also the man, who had believed rashly before, should recover the entrusted office; so that he who had been unstable in believing in himself, would become suitable for preaching to others.
158. But let us turn to the words of the mandate: Do not touch me; for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God (John XX, 17). How have you not ascended, Lord Jesus? How have you departed, who entrusted your spirit into the hands of the Father? Or when can you be absent, who are always in the Father, with the Father always? In fact, you yourself said: If I descend into the underworld, you are there. If I should take my wings before dawn, and dwell at the end of the sea, even there your hand would lead me. (Psalm 139:8 et seq.) Or how do you ascend, who are always everywhere?
159. You did indeed descend, O Son of man, and when you descended, you did not separate from the Father, but you descended for us, so that we may see you with our eyes and minds, so that we may believe in you. Therefore, you also ascended for us, so that we may follow you with our minds, whom we cannot see with our eyes. You ascended to the apostles, to whom you said: 'He who sees me, sees the Father' (John 14:9). Finally, when John was searching for you, he knew that you were with the Father. He sought you in the Father, and he found you, and therefore he said: 'And the Word was with God' (John 1:1). You ascended and Paul, who was not content to follow you alone, also taught us how to follow you and where we can find you, saying: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col. III, 1). And lest we think this pertains more to the eyes than to the soul, he added: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Ib., 2).
So we should not seek you above the earth, nor in the earth, nor according to the flesh, if we want to find you; for now we no longer know Christ according to the flesh. Indeed, Stephen did not seek you above the earth, who saw you standing at the right hand of God; but Mary, because she sought on earth, could not touch. Stephen touched because he sought in heaven; Stephen saw you absent among the Jews: Mary did not see you present among the angels. But why she could not touch him, the evangelist himself has taught us, saying, 'For when she saw you, she did not know that you are; thus you have it: she turned back, and saw Jesus standing, and she did not know that it is Jesus' (Ibid., 1). She rightfully could not touch, what she could not see; for one who sees, touches.
Therefore, Scripture distinguishes between her and Mary. Mary goes to meet Jesus, this one turns back: Mary is greeted, this one is rebuked. Finally, this is how it goes: Jesus says to her: 'Woman' (John 20:14). The one who does not believe is a woman, and is still referred to by the designation of the female body: for the one who believes, she encounters the perfect man, in the measure of the fullness of Christ's age, lacking now the name of the world, the sex of the body, the slippery nature of youth, the verbosity of old age. Therefore, Jesus says: Woman, why are you weeping? As if to say: God does not require naked tears, but faith. Good tears, if you recognize Christ. Whom are you seeking? He says. For the Lord condemns late efforts. But he added well: Whom are you seeking? Not that he doubts whom he is seeking, but because she does not know whom she is seeking; for she is not seeking Christ, whom she thinks has been taken away. Christ is present, how is he sought? Therefore he is not known who is sought, when he is not recognized, although he can be seen.
162. Finally, she saw Christ and thought he was the gardener; for thus it is written: Thinking that he was the gardener, she said to him: Lord, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him. Although her faith was uncertain, her words were not slippery: although she thought he was the gardener, she designated him as the Son of God: although she still did not believe, she desired to believe; for he himself, who raised him, took his body. Therefore, the woman's venerable mistake, who, although she should not have doubted that Christ's body was taken up through the glory of the resurrection, still desires to be taught by Christ, and devoutly pledges her faith to him; so that she herself may now take him away from the earth, and seek him at the right hand of God.
163. Finally, after these words, she is not called a woman, but now she is called Mary (John 20:16); for one thing is the common name of the people, another is the special name of this person who followed Christ. And to the disciples, although they have not yet believed fully, she is nevertheless sent as a messenger. But she is forbidden to touch, because she has not yet experienced in a bodily way the fullness of the divinity dwelling in Christ, as Paul had understood (Colossians 2:9); she has not yet emptied herself of the slippery world, the ambiguous flesh; she has not yet lived the life of Christ. Finally, he stands, not worshiping the Lord, nor holding his feet, like that Mary: in whom, surely, not so much physical obedience is indicated, as the affection of full faith; that he believes Christ to be both man and God: for it is God who is worshiped, and man who is held (Matthew 28:9).
Therefore, the Lord does not disdain to be touched by a woman, as both Mary and Martha anointed His feet with ointment (Luke 7:38); nor does He refuse to be touched, but rather teaches progress; for not all can touch the risen Christ, whom they touched in this life while He dwelled in a body. If one desires to touch Christ, they should mortify their own members and put on the inward parts of mercy like the one who will be resurrected, and not hesitate to renounce earthly things.
165. So what does 'Noli me tangere' (John 20:17) mean? Do not touch me, but go to my brothers, that is, to the more perfect ones. For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:50). Because the resurrection can only be understood by the more perfect, the foundation of this faith is preserved specifically by the more grounded: But I do not permit women to teach in the Church, let them ask their husbands at home (1 Corinthians 14:35). So they are sent to those who are at home: and she received the written commands (I Tim. II, 12).
And it is not without reason that some have understood that Christ did not want to be touched in this place, because he had not yet received the sign which he had entrusted to the Father, as if he should not yet be touched.
I ascend to my Father, and your Father, to my God, and your God (John 20:17). He distinguished well because he was speaking to a woman; for our nature is not common with Christ, except in human condition. To Him the Father by His own generation, to us by voluntary adoption; to Him by nature, to us by grace; to Him God by the unity of the mystery, to us by heavenly power.
Someone says: How, then, did Thomas, though he did not yet believe, touch Christ? (Ibid., 27) But it seems that he doubted not about the resurrection of the Lord, but about the quality of the resurrection; and he required to touch with his own hand, just as Paul taught; For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (II Cor. XV, 53); so that the unbeliever may believe, and the doubter may not be able to doubt: for we more readily believe what we see. However, Thomas had a reason to admire when he saw a body inserted inside all the closed and impassable structures, with no damage; and therefore it is amazing how the corporal nature has penetrated through an impenetrable body, with an invisible entrance but a visible appearance: easy to touch, difficult to estimate.
169. (Vers. 37, 39.) Finally, the disturbed disciples believed that they were seeing a spirit; and therefore the Lord, in order to show us the appearance of the resurrection: Touch, he said, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. Therefore, he penetrated not through an incorporeal nature, but through the quality of a resurrected body, impermeable to use and closed. For what is touched is a body: what is felt is a body: but we will rise in a body: For there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (I Cor. XV, 44); but the former is more refined, the latter more dense, since it is still concreted by the quality of earthly corruption.
170. For how could He not offer to touch the body in which the marks of wounds remained, the traces of scars which the Lord displayed? In this body He not only strengthens faith, but also sharpens devotion; He chose to bear the wounds inflicted for us, He did not choose to abolish them; so that He could show to God the Father the price of our freedom. The Father places such a one at His right hand, embracing the trophies of our salvation: there He will show us such martyrs with their scars as a crown.
171. And since our discussion has reached this point, let us consider for what reason the apostles believed according to John, who rejoiced (John 20:20), whereas according to Luke they were rebuked as unbelieving (Verse 25). There they received the Holy Spirit, here they are commanded to wait in the city until they are clothed with power from on high (Verse 49). And it seems to me that the former, as an apostle, touched on greater and loftier things, while the latter dealt with what follows and is closer to human matters. The former used a concise style, since there can be no doubt about him who bears witness concerning those events in which he himself was present (John 19:35), and his witness is true. From this also it is reasonable to ward off any suspicion of either negligence or falsehood from the one who merited to be an evangelist. And therefore we think both are true, not distinguished by a variety of opinions or a diversity of persons. For although in the beginning Luke says that they did not believe, he later demonstrates that they did believe: and if we consider the first [accounts], they are contrary; if we consider the following [accounts], it is certain that they agree. Let us therefore consider the very words of Scripture.
172. (Verses 35-37.) Thus says John: And the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. He said to them again: Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained (John 20:20, et seq.). But Luke says: And how they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. But while they were speaking these things, he stood in their midst and said to them, \"Peace to you, it is I, do not be afraid.\" But they were troubled and frightened, thinking that they saw a spirit. And there could have been more here: but because this was late in the day of the resurrection (for in the evening of that day when those who had entered remained with the Lord, where He suddenly disappeared, those two were reported to have returned to the disciples at the same hour when the Lord presented Himself to be touched) and according to John on that late day, on the first day of the week, He appeared to the disciples and showed them His wounds to be touched (John 20:19); in order to remove any ambiguity, we thought it necessary to investigate more diligently.