Early on the first day of the week there was an earthquake and an angel came and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb and Jesus was raised from the dead!
The women among the followers of Jesus came to the tomb early, not expecting to see Jesus alive but bringing spices to apply to His body.
An angel announced the resurrection the women, then Jesus Himself appeared to them. The women told the other disciples about the empty tomb and Matthew 28:11 says their words seemed like idle takes and they did not believe.
Mark 16:9 says that he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then apparently to the other women, but eventually Jesus appears to Peter (1 Corinthains 15:5), then to two disciples walking home from Jerusalem (Mark 16:12-13) and finally to all of the apostles in the upper room “the same day at evening” (John 20:19, Luke 24:36).
The angel told the women, “He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, “saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'” (Luke 24:6-7) and then Luke says they remembered what He had said.
Why do you think that, inspite of Jesus having told them plainly numerous times, no one appears to have really thought He would be raised from the dead? Did they even think He would really be crucified?
The report of the resurrection gets back to the Jewish leaders and they bribe the soldiers to lie saying the disciples came and stole the body.
The first words spoken by the angel and Jesus to the troubled followers of Jesus were “do not be afraid”, “rejoice”, and “peace be with you”. These words apply to us because Jesus was raised from the dead!
Lakeshore Bible Study Online 