Passage

John 20.17

Book: John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

ASV:

"17. Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." (John 20:17, ASV)

WEB:

"17. Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”" (John 20:17, WEB)

KJV:

"17. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17, KJV)

YLT:

"17. Jesus saith to her, 'Be not touching me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father; and be going on to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God.'" (John 20:17, YLT)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV:

"15. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher. 17. Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. 18. Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her. 19. When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." (John 20:15-19, ASV)

WEB:

"15. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” 17. Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. 19. When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”" (John 20:15-19, WEB)

KJV:

"15. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." (John 20:15-19, KJV)

YLT:

"15. Jesus saith to her, 'Woman, why dost thou weep? whom dost thou seek;' she, supposing that he is the gardener, saith to him, 'Sir, if thou didst carry him away, tell me where thou didst lay him, and I will take him away;' 16. Jesus saith to her, 'Mary!' having turned, she saith to him, 'Rabbouni;' that is to say, 'Teacher.' 17. Jesus saith to her, 'Be not touching me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father; and be going on to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God.' 18. Mary the Magdalene cometh, telling to the disciples that she hath seen the Lord, and [that] these things he said to her. 19. It being, therefore, evening, on that day, the first of the sabbaths, and the doors having been shut where the disciples were assembled, through fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith to them, 'Peace to you;'" (John 20:15-19, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: the risen Jesus, in His first post-resurrection appearance per John's narrative
Audience: Mary Magdalene, weeping at the empty tomb on Easter morning
Location: outside Jesus's tomb (the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathea), Jerusalem
Time period: Easter morning, c. Nisan 16, AD 30 or 33 (resurrection morning); composed c. AD 85-95
Narrative context: Mary Magdalene has come early to the tomb (v. 1), found it empty, gone for Peter and John (vv. 2-10), returned to weep at the tomb (v. 11), encountered the angels (vv. 12-13), and now encounters Jesus, initially mistaking Him for the gardener (v. 15). The moment of recognition comes when He speaks her name (v. 16). Verse 17 contains: (a) the instruction not to cling to Him (preventing the closure-of-encounter Mary instinctively reaches for); (b) the explanation, He has not yet ascended; (c) the commission to announce the resurrection to the brethren; (d) the formal message, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." The verse is Jesus's first post-resurrection commission to a witness, and the first post-resurrection theological statement of His ongoing Father-Son-believer relations.

Theological reading

John 20:17 is doctrinally dense beyond its compact length. The verse anchors three theological issues: (a) the touch-me-not + ascension theology; (b) the brethren commission, the redefined family of God; (c) the formal "my Father / your Father, my God / your God", the Father-Son relational structure post-resurrection.

"Touch me not", mē mou haptou

The Greek mē mou haptou (μή μου ἅπτου) is a present-tense imperative, better rendered "stop clinging to me" than "do not touch me" (which would be aorist). Mary is apparently clinging to Jesus in joy and disbelief. The instruction is not a prohibition against any contact (Jesus does invite Thomas to touch Him in v. 27) but against the holding-on-as-permanent response that Mary instinctively makes. The reason: Jesus has not yet ascended; His permanent dwelling will not be with the disciples in pre-resurrection mode but at the Father's right hand, with the Spirit's coming as the mode of His ongoing presence (cf. John 14:18; 16:7; Acts 1:8-11).

The verse is one of the principal NT texts establishing the forty-day post-resurrection period (Acts 1:3) as a transitional moment between the embodied earthly ministry and the post-ascension Spirit-mediated presence.

"My brethren", the redefined family

This is the first time in John's Gospel that Jesus calls the disciples adelphoi (brothers). Pre-resurrection, the disciples are mathētai (disciples); pre-resurrection-Last-Supper, Jesus has called them philoi (friends, John 15:14-15); now, post-resurrection, they are adelphoi. The progression reflects the atonement-accomplished status: the resurrection has secured the believer's adoption into God's family, with Jesus as the firstborn-among-brothers (Rom 8:29).

The Hebrews parallel is striking: "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb 2:11). The new family-of-God identity is grounded in the completed redemptive work.

"My Father and your Father, my God and your God"

The grammatical distinction here matters. Jesus does not say "OUR Father" (which would collapse the relationship into uniform equivalence). He says "MY Father and YOUR Father, MY God and YOUR God", preserving the distinction between His Father-Son relation to God (eternal, intrinsic, the same essence) and the believer's Father-child relation to God (adoptive, derived through Christ, the same family but not the same kind of sonship).

The Christian believer is a son/daughter by adoption (huiothesia, Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5). Jesus is the Son by nature (the monogenēs, only-begotten, John 1:14, 18; 3:16). The two are categorically different even though both are real. John 20:17's formal distinction preserves what the rest of the NT teaches systematically: the believer is in the Son and through the Son shares the Son's relation to the Father, but is not Himself the Son in the same intrinsic sense.

This forecloses three readings:

"Jesus is just our elder brother by ordinary kinship", the "my God" language preserves Jesus's distinct relation.
"We are gods" / theosis-as-identity (an Eastern Orthodox over-reading), believers participate in the divine life but do not become divine in the unique way Christ is.
"Jesus and the Father are merely two-of-many in a continuum" (modern process / open-theist readings), the "my Father" preserves the unique intrinsic Father-Son relation.

The "my God", apparent challenge

The phrase "my God" is sometimes cited by Arian, JW, and Muslim apologists as proof that Jesus does not regard Himself as God: how can the divine Christ speak of "my God"? Counter:

The Christ in view is the incarnate Christ in the post-resurrection moment, still in human form. The hypostatic union means the Person of Christ has two natures (divine and human); the human nature legitimately speaks of "my God" while the divine nature does not require such language. The two-natures Christology resolves the apparent tension.
Compare John 20:28 only 11 verses later: Thomas confesses Jesus as "My Lord and my God", and Jesus accepts the confession without correction. The same Gospel that has Jesus say "my God" in v. 17 has the disciple call Jesus "my God" in v. 28. The two are not contradictory; they reflect the two-natures structure of the incarnate Person.
Compare the OT Messianic parallel: Psalm 22:1, 10, the Davidic king (and prophetic Messianic figure) says "my God" even within a context of being God's anointed. The "my God" language is appropriate to the Messianic mediator role.

Patristic and Reformed reading

Augustine (Tractates on John 121, c. AD 416): the careful "my Father and your Father" distinction protects against both heresies, the Arian (Christ is merely the elder of many sons) and the Modalist over-collapse (Christ and the believer are the same kind of son). The verse is a Trinitarian and adoption-doctrine anchor at once.

Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on John 12): the two-natures Christology is what makes the "my God" coherent. The incarnate Christ in human nature legitimately speaks of God as His God; the divine Christ in divine nature is one with the Father.

John Calvin (Commentary on John ad loc.): the verse establishes the brotherhood-by-adoption of believers with Christ. Christ is our brother by virtue of His incarnation; we are God's children by virtue of being in Christ.

Apologetic deployment

The verse is the principal text for the doctrine of adoption (huiothesia), believers becoming children of God by Christ-mediated adoption. The companion texts: Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:5; 1 John 3:1-2. The doctrine is the basis for the Christian's confidence in approaching God as Abba, Father (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).

Oneness Pentecostal reading

The Oneness reading takes the "my Father" / "my God" language as the incarnate Son speaking from within the genuine humanity of the resurrection-state. The Father-source / Son-manifestation distinction within the one God is preserved; the Son's human relation to the Father remains real within the incarnate-resurrection economy. See Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism.

Canonical-theological connections

John 20:28, Thomas's "My Lord and my God" (rich hub: John 20.27-28)
John 1:14, 18, monogenēs, only-begotten / unique Son
John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (Spirit-mediated presence)
Romans 8:15-17, 29, adoption + firstborn-among-many-brothers
Galatians 4:4-7, sending of the Son to redeem + send the Spirit of His Son
Ephesians 1:5, predestined to adoption
Hebrews 2:11-17, the not-ashamed-to-call-them-brethren passage
1 John 3:1-2, "behold, what manner of love... that we should be called the sons of God"
Psalm 22:1, Messianic "my God" parallel

Key words

G2316 - theos, theos (Strong's G2316). Also appears in: Matthew 1.23, Matthew 3.16, Matthew 5.9.
G2424 - Iesous, Iesous (Strong's G2424). Also appears in: Matthew 1.1, Matthew 1.16, Matthew 1.18.
G3962 - pater, pater (Strong's G3962). Also appears in: Matthew 5.48, Matthew 6.25-26, Matthew 6.25-34.
G4314 - pros, pros (Strong's G4314). Also appears in: Matthew 3.13, Matthew 5.28, Matthew 11.28.