Ruth D – Why does Jesus say to Mary, touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father?

Dave: I’ve had the same question for years. No one knows, therefore any answer is speculation. He is saying that the reason for “stop clinging to Me” is because He has not yet ascended to the Father. Maybe He was preparing her for the fact that He will be disappearing soon and that she needs to have faith and not sight for the rest of her life. Or Jesus may be simply saying, “It’s time for you to go and tell others about Me rising from the dead.” Or, He had to ascend to the Father in order to send the Holy Spirit to her and many others to get the New Covenant going via His Church. I don’t think the issue was mere touching because Jesus told Thomas to touch Him in order to feel His wounds and convince him of actual resurrection. The Greek word used here for “touch” is “cling.” The reason Jesus said this to Mary was because He had not yet ascended to the Father. I think Jesus was saying that a major change was coming. He had to go, so He could send the Holy Spirit to get the New Covenant going, and she no longer could “walk by sight” and needed to learn to “walk by faith.”