Charles Ellicott Commentary John 20:14

"When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus." — John 20:14 (ASV)

And saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.—There is no need to imagine an external cause for her turning around, and if there was one, it is useless for us to ask what it was.

She has expressed her woe, and turns aside again to weep, when she sees another form. Weighed down by her sorrow, not looking intently, it may be, or seeing indistinctly through tear-filled eyes, she does not recognize her Lord.

We do not know what the appearance was. There must have been figure, feature, and clothing; but these differed, in this as in other manifestations, from what they had been familiar with. She, perhaps, hardly looked at all, but supposed that the only person there at that early hour would be the keeper of the garden.