Section 2
ascended into heaven. Mary saw the resurrected Lord earlier than God the Father did. At that time, Mary was trying to touch the Lord, but He forbade her. It was sufficient for her to see Him. The Lord prevented her from touching Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father. He had to present Himself to the Father and contact Him first. When He came to the disci ples in the evening of the same day, He asked them to touch Him (Luke 24:39). By these inci dents we can realize that Mary was the first one to see the resurrected Lord.
BRINGING FORTH MANY "BROTHERS"
The Lord Jesus also told Mary, "Go to My brothers." Here we come to one of the greatest points in the Gospel of John, a point which not many Christians have seen clearly. Prior to His resurrection, the Lord never called His disciples "brothers." The most intimate term He used be fore that time was "friends." In John 15:14 and 15 He said, "You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his lord is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things which I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." But now, after His resurrection, His