Very early on Resurrection Sunday, “there yet being darkness” (Joh 20:1), Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph / Joses came to the tomb where they had seen Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus hastily inter Jesus’ body Thursday evening just as the required sabbath for the first day of Unleavened Bread was beginning. Prevented by that “high day” from completing their burial custom on Friday, and again by the seventh day Sabbath on Saturday, they had arranged to meet at the tomb some other women who had followed Him to the Passover from Galilee. These two Marys were the first to arrive, just after a severe earthquake, and discovered that the stone had been rolled away. They didn’t immediately see the angel Matthew says had actually caused the earthquake, rolling away the stone from the tomb and sitting upon it, which left the Roman guards frozen in terror. Day was breaking, the surrounding light was dim, they were disoriented by the earthquake, and the scene that suddenly confronted them was not at all what they were expecting, so among their first thoughts was if they were even in the right place. Upon entering the tomb they immediately saw it was empty and were startled to find at the right a young man dressed in white, whose words to them make clear it was the same angel Matthew described as earlier sitting upon the stone that had been rolled away. Understanding their separation from the spiritual world and the difficulty they would have believing the truth of what had happened, the angel’s announcement of the resurrection assured them that yes, they were in the right place and the reason the tomb was empty was because He had risen from the dead, just as He had foretold. Having made known to them that Christ had been raised, what did the angel then command the two women? See Mat 28:7. Did he tell them to go and tell just anyone, such as the religious leaders who had Jesus put to death or anyone they met along the way? See Mar 16:8. As difficult as it was even for the disciples to come to believe, what would the reaction have been of those who were more disinterested or even hostile to Jesus, especially upon coming to the tomb and finding neither Jesus alive nor the supposed angel, but just an empty tomb? And how would such an experience have stymied the willingness of the first witnesses to want to share their “unbelievable” experience with others? How does this help us to understand the importance of the faith community for building and strengthening our faith?
Besides the disciples in general, to whom specifically does Mark say the angel directed them to tell? See Mar 16:7. Why Peter in particular? See Mat 16:18-19, Luk 22:31-34,60-62; contrast Mat 27:3-5 and consider the torment Peter must have experienced over those three days for his failure to stand with Jesus in His hour of trial as he said he would. How does the angel tell them to go tell the disciples. See Mat 28:7-8, Joh 20:1-2. In regard to the distress Peter would have been experiencing, what does this communicate about God’s desire as a Father to comfort us in our sorrows, even if from our own failures, as soon as possible according to the orchestration of both the perfect timing of the unfolding of His own eternal plans and the discipline He administers to us as true sons to teach us His ways? See 2Co 2:6-8, Heb 12:5-11. Why is it not surprising that Mark includes that the angel specifically mentions Peter whereas Matthew omits that detail? See 1Pe 5:13, from which we understand that Mark was like a spiritual son to Peter, and was perhaps introduced to the Lord by him; cf. Luk 22:7-12 and note that the man carrying the water, typically a woman’s chore, may have been Mark himself; early church tradition also teaches that Mark received the information for his gospel primarily from Peter.
Because that Sunday was the day after the Sabbath that followed the Passover it was the Jewish Feast of First Fruits, upon which Jesus was not just raised (for Lazarus and others had earlier been raised from the dead), but resurrected, never to die again, as the first fruits from the dead. Also, because the tomb had been sealed and a guard posted, God sent the angel to miraculously intervene and roll away the stone so as to make known what had happened exactly on time according to His precise timing for the redemption of mankind. Considering the care God took to make known Jesus’ resurrection on that exact day that was so important to His plan of salvation, should we expect that it will be any different on that day when Christ returns to complete His work of salvation? See Luk 17:24,26-30, 2Th 2:1-2. And yet, although God made the resurrection of Jesus known right away, did the whole world, or even the disciples, immediately believe it and understand what had actually happened? Cf. Joh 20:2,9-10, Luk 24:11, Mar 16:9-11,14. So, even though we believe that Christ’s second coming will happen exactly on schedule and in hindsight it will be clear that it happened in God’s perfect time which He will immediately make known as with the resurrection, should we necessarily suppose that it will be clear and obvious at that time to the whole world simultaneously as is commonly imagined? How does Scripture actually describe the day of the Lord when Christ returns that would lead us to believe that the vast majority of people will have no idea what is happening, just as they had no idea about the eternal things unfolding on the day God raised Jesus from the dead? See 2Th 2:1-4,7-12; cf. Isa 13:6,9, Eze 13:5-6, Joe 1:15, 2:1-2,11, 3:14, Amo 5:18-20, Zep 1:14-15, 1Th 5:1-3. In a time of widespread apostasy, wickedness and great deception, as in the days of Noah, or Lot, should we suppose that there will be very many people at all who really understand what is happening at the time? Cf. Dan 12:1-3,10.