Touch me not
Compare (Matthew 28:9); "and they came and held him by the feet." A contradiction has been supposed.
Three views are held:
(1) That Jesus speaks to Mary as the High Priest fulfilling the day of atonement (Leviticus 16). Having accomplished the sacrifice, He was on His way to present the sacred blood in heaven, and that, between the meeting with Mary in the garden and the meeting of (Matthew 28:9). He had so ascended and returned: a view in harmony with types.
(2) That Mary Magdalene, knowing as yet only Christ after the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:15-17) and having found her Beloved, sought only to hold Him so; while He, about to assume a new relation to His disciples in ascension, gently teaches Mary that now she must not seek to hold Him to the earth, but rather become His messenger of the new joy.
(3) That He merely meant: "Do not detain me now; I am not yet ascended; you will see me again; run rather to my brethren," etc.
Touch me not
Or, do not detain me.