Man’s mind soon forgets. It is superficially centered on its particular thoughts. We often hear the word of God and fail to understand correctly what the Lord wants to say by his word. When the two angels, with the power of their divine rays, reminded the women that Jesus had spoken several times before his death about his resurrection, the women began to be enlightened that they would become witnesses of a supernatural thing which would change the world. They gradually grasped the meaning of the word that Jesus should truly rise.
When the surprising influence faded away, and they came back to consciousness, the women began to bring together their mental abilities. They raced back joyfully to the disciples, believing in the words of the angels, and ascertained of Christ’s prophetic promises. They had believed several months ago in Jesus as the true Christ, left their houses and families, and followed the Lord from Galilee to Judea, paying no attention to the people’s talk about them, for Jesus was holy and he had kept them in his purity. Now he is awarding them and choosing them as first witnesses of his resurrection from the dead.
The evangelist Luke shows us exactly who those chosen bringers of good news were. He announces their names clearly: First, Mary of Magdalene who had already been demon-possessed and the Lord cast seven demons from her. She could not live without her Savior, and the Lord assured her he was not dead but truly living.
The second chosen woman was Joanna, who was most probably the wife of a steward of King Herod. Joanna regarded the level of her house lower than the shame of Christ’s cross. She was one of the women who stood near the cross on the Good Friday, and continued in deep sorrow. Now she had the privilege to realize the glory of the Lord among the first witnesses (Mark 15:40).
As for the mother of James, we do not know if she were Salome, the mother of John and James, son of Zebedee, or the mother of James and Joses. Maybe they were both present, for in addition to the three mentioned women there were many others of Christ’s followers who had the privilege to see the angel and learn about the resurrection.
The women, who were commissioned by the angel to carry the good news of the triumph of him who was raised from the dead, went back to the disciples and told them all these things with great joy, but the disciples laughed at them, and regarded their words as nonsense, and fancies of women. Men are usually slow in believing. They seek proofs, logic, scientific laws, and experience, and want to put things to the test. They want to see him and touch him who was raised before they believe in him and in his resurrection. That was exactly the reason for their unbelief, which was originated from their blind minds and hard hearts. The disciples and the men who followed Jesus did not only leave him and flee away on Thursday evening, but also did not believe the angelic message addressed to them on Sunday morning about the resurrection of the Son of God through the women. They were desperate and sorrowful for all their hope of the establishment of the kingdom of God had ended. At the same time, they deemed it shameful to derive their information and knowledge from women. They were not ready to believe the first story they heard, which was beyond their understandings, for they did not remember Christ’s promise in this same regard. Thus they altogether opposed the drawing of the Holy Spirit.
Yet, Peter who was crushed, feeble, and trusting neither himself, nor his logic, nor his experience, after he denied Jesus, arose at last and ran to the tomb, giving no attention to the guards and the chief priests, for he sensed the possibility of the impossible thing. Peter bowed down many times before God when he entered the tomb. He looked into the tomb, and noticed how orderly the linen clothes in which Christ was wrapped were taken off, and folded up, and laid by themselves, but the body gone. There was no body in them, but they kept the same position they had when it was there. They looked like a silk cocoon emptied from its worm. Peter’s heart quivered and throbbed and his mind thrilled to the miracle. Yet the leap to the courageous belief in the truth of resurrection did not enter his heart, for he saw himself rejected and reprobate having excessively denied his Lord.