John 20

I love this chapter. To me, this is one of the most beautiful chapters in the gospels. It not only reflects the great love the Savior had for the 12 and the others who were close to him, but how deeply they loved him. And how deeply he loves us.

I believe there was an important relationship between Mary Magdalene and the Savior. The scene of Mary and the Savior is such a tender one. There is speculation they were married and I wonder why not. If the Savior was going to be perfectly obedient to all of God's commands, why would he leave out the most important ordinance in the gospel, being sealed for time and eternity to a wife? Our Father in heaven has a wife. To follow his example, the Savior would need to have one too. This would not make him less than a God, but more of one.

Why else would Mary Magdalene get up extra early and go to the grave alone? Why would the two angels appear to her and the Savior appear to her before the First Presidency of the church? Notice how John, who is the other disciple mentioned (he's so humble), defers to Peter who is the president of the church, by allowing Peter to enter the tomb first. If protocol is important, the Savior would have first appeared to Peter. But Mary must be more important in some way than Peter and the only way that could be is if Mary had a more important relationship with the Savior. The church does not put that forth as doctrine, but I think it's widely held among gospel scholars in the church and among general authorities.

There is also speculation as to why the Savior said "Touch me not; for I am no yet ascended to my Father." Some translate that as hold me not (the JST). But that could mean embrace, it could mean "don't delay me." I personally think protocol is being observed here. As much as they would have liked to embrace, the privilege of that first embrace belonged to the Father. It makes sense to me that the first to embrace the Savior after his completed work and his resurrection would be the Father. That would be a very important moment for both of them, more important than we can imagine. When you think of what the Savior went through not just for us, but to fulfill the Father's will, that embrace would be the most tender and emotional moment of all.

Since all things have been completed and the apostles and others see the resurrected Lord, now they can understand the resurrection fully with the right perspective. They couldn't have understood his resurrection until they had witnessed it. With all things complete, there is no reason to hold back giving them the Holy Ghost (verse 22). The Lord does this and I'm sure the Holy Ghost gave them a witness concerning the resurrection even though a complete witness of all things may not come until the day of pentecost.

When the Savior does not condemn Thomas for not believing until Thomas saw and touched the Savior for himself, it shows how merciful and understanding the Lord is. Thomas must have done a lot of thinking and soul searching in the eight days between the Savior appearing to the other apostles and when he appeared to him.

The last verse, 31, sums up what it all means for us. All that John has written is so that we can know and believe that Jesus is the Christ and the promise of everlasting life is real and true. What John has written is proof for us that his life, his teachings, his atonement, and his physical (not just his spirit) resurrection is true and it happened and we will be resurrected and can return to the Father too. Deep in your heart, you know this is true. You knew it without doubt before this life. But it's possible to reach through the veil and find that knowledge again because it is there.