JOHN 20:14 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.”
Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus — Mary's turning (straphē) toward the risen Jesus parallels theological conversion; she sees (theōreō) yet fails to recognize (ginōskō). The resurrection body's unrecognizability (even to intimate disciples) suggests profound ontological transformation; the risen Jesus is identifiable not by appearance but by voice, word, and grace. This unrecognition paradoxically establishes the reality of true resurrection.
Church Fathers on John 20:14
Mary Magdalene, who had been the sinner in the city, and who had washed out the spots of her sins by her tears, whose soul burned with love, did not retire from the sepulcher when the others did: Then the disciples went away again to their own home.
i.e. To the place where they were lodging, and from which they had ran to the sepulcher. But though the men returned, the stronger love of the woman fixed her to the spot. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping.
Be not astonished that Mary wept for love at the sepulcher, and Peter did not; for the female sex is naturally tender, and inclined to weep.
Read all 38 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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