NOLI ME TANGERE

GIOTTO di Bondone
No. 37 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 21. Resurrection (Noli me tangere)
Fresco, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

John 20:11-17

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”

Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him? In my search for an answer, I found this article in The Smithsonian Magazine, titled "Who Was Mary Magdalene?" by James Carroll, who writes a regular column in The Boston Globe.

The multiplicity of the Marys by itself was enough to mix things up—as were the various accounts of anointing, which in one place is the act of a loose-haired prostitute, in another of a modest stranger preparing Jesus for the tomb, and in yet another of a beloved friend named Mary. Women who weep, albeit in a range of circumstances, emerged as a motif. As with every narrative, erotic details loomed large, especially because Jesus’ attitude toward women with sexual histories was one of the things that set him apart from other teachers of the time. Not only was Jesus remembered as treating women with respect, as equals in his circle; not only did he refuse to reduce them to their sexuality; Jesus was expressly portrayed as a man who loved women, and whom women loved.

The climax of that theme takes place in the garden of the tomb, with that one word of address, “Mary!” It was enough to make her recognize him, and her response is clear from what he says then: “Do not cling to me.” Whatever it was before, bodily expression between Jesus and Mary of Magdala must be different now.

After his Resurrection, Jesus has a body. He is the same Jesus, but, at the same time, he is different, and his physical relationship with his disciples had to be different.

Carroll's entire piece is worth reading as a counter-story to the nonsense floating around about Mary Magdalene.


Collect

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

"NOLI ME TANGERE"

Noli Me Tangere (Cell 1) - 1440-42 - Fresco
Convento di San Marco, Florence

John 20:11-18

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Above is another beautiful fresco from San Marco by the holy Fra Angelico. The painting is lovely, but the blond Jesus is a bit of a distraction. I looked at other paintings of Jesus by the good brother, and in some his hair is reddish, in others blond, and in several crucifixion paintings Jesus has dark hair - all by the same artist.

I meant the post to be in a meditative vein, but I'm afraid it's not turning out as I intended. My musings on Jesus' blondness may be inspired by a link Ann V sent to me several days ago to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald in which the writer speaks of the tendency to portray Jesus as good-looking and mostly just like us in appearance. Justine Toh says:

Any representation of Jesus reveals the values of the times and places in which it was produced. When I think of Jesus, he's conventionally attractive. He has longish brown curly hair; he's tall, lily-skinned and dewy-eyed. For a carpenter, he's curiously light on muscle. He bears a striking resemblance to the late singer Jeff Buckley.

All right, then. Toh goes on:

Christ is almost never portrayed in less than appealing terms due to the age-old assumption that looks equal worth. In this context, Jesus's beauty is more symbolic than physical, or his outward beauty is a sign of his inward goodness.

The appearance of the Jesus of my imagination is somewhat vague, indistinct. He's definitely good-looking, with longish, dark brown, wavy hair. Over the years Jesus' complexion has darkened to appear more realistically like the person of the Middle-East that he is. Jeff Buckley wouldn't be far off the mark, but with browner skin.

Fra Angelico was born in Fiesole in Tuscany, but he traveled further south to Rome and other areas of Italy in his painting career. What did the people around him look like? Why the blond and red-haired portrayals of Jesus?

Below is "Christ the Saviour" (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai from the Wikipedia article titled "Race of Jesus". Images of Jesus from as early as the 3rd century in the catacombs in Rome are shown in the article.



I've roamed and rambled away from the subject of the painting, Mary Magdalene as the first to see Jesus after the Resurrection, when Jesus tells her, "Don't cling to me, but go tell my brothers." Mary is often shown with red hair in paintings. A woman, not one of the male apostles, saw the risen Christ first. I expect there are those who would prefer that this story was left out of the Gospel, but there it is. Mary, who followed Jesus and ministered to him throughout his public life, Mary and the other women, including Mary the mother, who stayed with Jesus even after his male followers fled upon his arrest, who stayed with Jesus to his crucifixion and death. It is a right and good thing that Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed of all our infirmities and know you in the power of his endless life; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.