“Noli Me Tangere” (Jesus and Mary Magdalene in the Garden) 

Basic Info

John 20:14–17

After Peter and John have left the tomb, Mary Magdalene is still there, weeping. She looks inside the tomb and sees two angels who ask why she is weeping. She tells them she is looking for the body of her Lord, that it has been taken. She then turns around and sees Jesus, whom she doesn’t recognize (see the notes on Jesus’ body after the Resurrection). He too asks about her weeping. She mistakes him for the gardener and asks if he took the body. Jesus then calls her by name and she recognizes him. He then says, “Noli me tangere.” Until very recently, this statement was understood to mean “Don’t touch me,” which is a pretty good translation of the Latin and forms the basis of the art tradition regarding this scene. (Scripture scholars have recently been looking at the original Greek. In today’s lingo, it might be rendered as “Stop holding or clinging to me.”)

In John’s Gospel, this is Jesus’ first post-Resurrection appearance. On the one hand, this highlights the importance of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’ community. The idea that she shouldn’t touch Jesus has been interpreted in many different ways, but at least one interpretive thread suggests that Jesus is putting Mary down.

Jesus’ statement to Mary may be read to conflict with the story a few verses earlier (John 20:27) of Jesus’ telling Thomas to put his hand into Jesus’ wounds, or it can be read as a distinction between men and women regarding Jesus’ body. Another difference between the two that may be worth exploring is that Mary was quick to accept this man as Jesus; Thomas was not.

What to Look For

• Jesus’ posture and expression toward Mary Magdalene
• Mary Magdalene’s posture and expression toward Jesus
• Jesus’ resurrected body and garments (The burial wrappings were still in the tomb, so where did the clothes come from?)

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

What kind of relationship does the artwork depict between Jesus and Mary Magdalene?

Where does the artwork fall on the spectrum between Mary Magdalene being graced with Jesus’ first Resurrection appearance and thus being the most favored disciple on the one hand and Mary Magdalene’s being put down by Jesus on the other?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Try to put yourself in Mary Magdalene’s shoes. Jesus had dispelled 7 demons from her. She loved him and understood his message. She probably felt most whole and alive when in his presence. What would she have felt if she came to the tomb to complete the embalming process for Jesus and his body was gone? What would she have imagined the bad guys’ doing to his body? How would this have played on her when she was already grieving over the rest of the events of the Passion and Crucifixion? Does the artwork capture this emotional state?

What is your relationship with Jesus? How would you respond if he looked at and gestured toward you the way he is doing toward Mary in this artwork?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

Mary Magdalene was often held up as a model of faithful Christian discipleship for women. What might this artwork be saying about what it means to be a faithful woman disciple in the artist’s time and place?