As the ladies came to the tomb they were totally astonished. Even though Jesus had said He would rise from the grave, they still were not expecting the resurrection (v3). Initially the contact with the angels was terrifying to them. They knew they were on holy ground and momentous events were happening.

Notice the special word for Peter (v7). Here we see the tenderness of the Lord, caring for the one who would be feeling so guilty at denying Him. If you have let the Lord down recently, then He has a special word for you, He wants to meet with you again.

In verses 9-13 we are given a summary of the resurrection appearances. This is important, as belief in the resurrection is vital if we are going to be a powerful witnessing church. Without the resurrection we would have no Gospel to proclaim (v15), we would have no hope of salvation and no cleansing to announce (v16). We would have no victory over evil and Satan (v17) and we would have no assurance of protection from the ever-present Saviour (v18).

As the resurrection was real, the disciples went out with joy preaching to all the Good news of Jesus who was dead but is now alive forever (v19-20). As a church we have this wonderful message that people need to hear today.