Belief of the women, unbelief of the apostles: V. 8. And they remembered His words, V. 9. and returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the Eleven and to all the rest. V. 10. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. V. 11. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. V. 12. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulcher; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
As the angels delivered their message, the women recalled the saying of Jesus perfectly. And there was no longer doubt in their minds, nor any uncertainty, but joyful trust and belief in the resurrection of their Lord. Christ was risen from the dead; God had raised His Child Jesus. The Master of life had taken His life out of death. He had reared up the temple of His body, which the Jews had destroyed, in three days.
And thus He has been declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Rom. 1, 4.
And therefore He has also been proved to be the Savior of the world. He has torn asunder the fetters of death, He has destroyed the power of death. There is no need for the believers to fear death, for they may gladly say: Grave, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy sting? 1 Cor. 15, 55. 57. Death has been conquered, and the sting of death, sin, has been taken away, 1 Cor. 15, 18. 20. Christ was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification, Rom. 4, 25.
All these gifts belonged to the believing women by faith on that first great Easter morning. But this same faith caused them to turn back from the grave, to return to the city, not all together, but in different groups, and to bring the message of all these wonderful things to the eleven apostles first of all, but also to the other disciples. There had been a considerable number of women at the grave, not only the three Marys, Mark 16, 1, but also Joanna, chap. 8, 3, and others. And they all, although at first almost stunned by the joyful news, proclaimed it to the followers of the Master.
But on that morning the apostles were still too deep in the misery of their disappointment and in their grief at the death of Jesus. The words of the women seemed to them as idle tales, as nonsense and superstitious gossip, as foolish talk, which must not be taken seriously.
Only Peter (and John, John 20, 3) determined to see for himself just what the meaning of all this talk was. He arose and ran with all speed to the tomb. There he bent his body forward, without entering into the sepulcher, and saw the linen grave-clothes carefully laid away by themselves. The evidence was all against grave-robbery and the application of force. The situation was such as to set Peter thinking seriously and to wonder about what had really happened as he slowly returned to the city. The speech of the women and the evidence of the tomb spoke strongly in favor of the resurrection, but he was not quite ready yet to believe.
Note: The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of the Christian's hope and faith, but it is very hard for the Christian to put his trust in this glorious truth at all times. It means simple, childlike reliance upon the Word of God under all circumstances, and that is a gift of God, for which we must daily plead in importunate prayer.