John 20:14. When she had thus said, she turned herself back; and she beholdeth Jesus standing, and perceived not that it was Jesus. Mary has answered the inquiry of the angels; and, satisfied that the Lord is not in the sepulchre, she turns round to see if information regarding Him can be obtained from any other source. Could we think that the morning was still dark, it might be possible to trace Mary's non-recognition of Jesus to that cause: but, if light was already dawning when she came first to the sepulchre, day must by this time have fully broken. That she did not know Jesus must, therefore, have proceeded from some other cause. This could not be the outward glory of His appearance, or she would not have supposed Him to be the gardener (John 20:15). Nor does it seem desirable to resort to the explanation offered by many, that glorified corporeity has the power of making itself visible or invisible,. or of assuming different forms of manifestation at its pleasure. Much may be attributed to Mary's total want of preparation for the fact. The idea that Jesus had risen from the grave had not yet dawned upon her: the form now in her presence could not be His: no supposition lay so near as that it was the gardener who had drawn near. More, however, must be said; and the key to the solution of the difficulty is to be found in Luke 24:16 (see also chap. John 21:4). Her ‘eyes were holden' that she should not discern her Lord. She was not yet ready for any such recognition as might correspond to the new stage of existence upon which He had entered. She would have seen the human friend, Jesus as He had been, not as He now was. Some further training, therefore, is still needed, and then the glorious revelation shall be given.

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Old Testament