John 20:14-16

“ After having spoken thus, she turned herself back; and she sees Jesus standing there, but without knowing that it was Jesus. 15. Jesus says to her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing that he was the gardener, says to him: Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16. Jesus says to her, Mary! She, turning herself, says to him, in Hebrew, Rabboni, which means, Master.

Mary, after having stooped down into the sepulchre, raises herself and turns about, as if to seek for Him whom she is asking for. Perhaps she heard some noise behind her. The supposition of Mary has been explained by the garment which Jesus wore. But she might easily suppose that the one who was there at that early morning hour and who thus interrogated her was the gardener. And as to garments, workmen were not often clothed except with a girdle (John 21:7).

The difficulty of recognizing Jesus arose from two causes; notwithstanding the identity of the body of Jesus, there was wrought a change in His whole person by His passing into a new life; He appeared ἐν ἑτέρᾳ μορφῇ, says Mark (Mark 16:12). His disciples, in seeing Him again, experienced something like what occurs in us when we meet a friend after a long separation; we need more or less length of time in order to recognize him; then, all at once, the simplest manifestation is enough to make the bandage fall from our eyes. But there was also an internal cause. Mary's want of faith in the promises of Jesus caused the idea of His return to life to be absolutely foreign to her present thought.

Jesus, as always, adapts His action to the needs of the soul which suffers and loves. What is most personal in human manifestations is the sound of the voice; it is by this means that Jesus makes Himself known to her. The tone which this name of Mary takes in His mouth expresses all that which she is for Him, all that which He is for her.

It follows from the word στραφεῖσα, having turned about, that she had turned again towards the tomb. For she was agitated, and was searching on one side, then on the other. And now, at the sound of this well-known voice, trembling even to the depths of her soul, she in turn puts all her being into the cry: Master! and throws herself at His feet, seeking to clasp them, as is shown by John 20:17.

Rabbouni, which is found only here and Mark 10:51, is a form of the word Rabban. The א is either the א paragogic or the suffix my. In the second case, it may gradually have lost its signification, which explains why the evangelist does not translate it. The word ἑβραϊστί, in Hebrew, which is read in the most ancient Mjj., is suspicious; it may be defended, however, by recalling to mind how the word rabbouni was strange to the ears of the Greek readers of the Gospel.