Note 3 at Jn. 20:14: There could be a couple of possible explanations of why Mary didn't recognize Jesus. First, through her grief and tears she may not have really paid attention to who this person was. She may have just glanced briefly without much thought.

Secondly, Mark says that Jesus appeared unto the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus "in another form" (see note 4 at Lk. 24:16, p. 492). This was not another form in the sense that Jesus didn't have His normal recognizable features, but it was a spiritual form (1 Cor. 15:44), which couldn't be discerned except by a person's spirit (1 Cor. 2:14).