John 20:17

John 20:17 says, Jesus saith unto her, "Touch met not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God."  Mary was seeking Jesus, and she wasn't going to be satisfied until she knew where He had been taken.  When we truly seek God through Christ, we need to understand that no one else will do.  We go to God through Christ alone.  If anyone else would tell us we must come through them, then we need to stay away from them and go to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  She did not recognize Jesus, but He made Himself known to her.  God will never leave us wondering about Who He is if we are His followers.  Now that she recognized Him, Jesus told her not to touch Him.  She may have thought that Jesus was risen like Lazarus, and that wasn't the case.  He was no longer going to continue in His earthly role but was going to ascend to the Father.  We do not need to look for the earthly Jesus.  He is not here, but He has arisen to His Father.  Notice that Jesus gave Mary a task.  When we find Jesus and accept Him as our Lord, we will be called to service.  Notice also that Jesus promoted Mary to the status of sister.  God was Jesus's Father and Mary's, because He was Jesus's God and her God.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become not only brothers and sisters to each other, but to Christ as well.  We become children of God, because we accept Him as our God.  There are no grandchildren of God or cousins of Christ.  We are either brothers and sisters of Christ and children of the heavenly Father or we are not a part of the family of God.  It did not matter who Mary once was, nor does it matter who we once were.  Through Christ, we are fully restored to the Father.  Verse eighteen adds, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her.  Jesus told her to go, and she went.  When He tells us to go, we must go and do what He tells us to do.  We never go on our own power, but in His strength.