[254]The morning following was the first day of the week; and early that morning, before it became very light, Mary Magdalene and other good women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered unto him, hastened to the Savior’s tomb.  When they reached there the angel of the Lord appeared unto them, saying:  “Fear not ye:  for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  He is not here:  for he is risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him:  lo, I have told you.  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.” (Matthew 28:5-8) This news to these faithful women sounded too good to be true.  They were dazed and bewildered; yet with joy they hurried away to deliver the message to others who loved the Lord.

[255]Here we have the proof that the resurrection of Jesus is one of the strings upon the harp of God, yielding great joy to those who hear its blessed sound.  The first human being who heard of the resurrection rejoiced.  How much more joy there must have been in heaven at that hour!

[256]Angel means messenger; that is, one who is sent on a mission as a representative or deputy, or messenger of God.  These holy messengers or angels always have access to the Father, Jehovah. (Matthew 18:10) We should expect, of course, that these holy ones of the heavenly host would sing praise and give utterance to joy before the Lord at every progressive step of his plan.  These angels inhabit the heavens, the high place.  And so the Psalmist writes of them:  “Praise ye the Lord.  Praise ye the Lord from the heavens:  praise him in the heights.  Praise ye him, all his angels:  praise ye him, all his hosts”. (Psalm 148:1,2) The Bible abounds with many instances wherein God has used these holy angels as messengers.  He communicated with Abraham by his angels (Genesis 22:15); also with Jacob.  (Genesis 31:11) God appeared unto Moses by his angel. (Exodus 3:2) He also delivered a message to Elijah by his angel. (1 Kings 19:5) These holy messengers of God guarded the interests of Jesus at all times, from the moment he left the heavenly courts to become the man Jesus for the purpose of redeeming the world of mankind. (Zechariah 3:1-7) The angel of the Lord announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of the babe Jesus. (Luke 1:31) When she gave birth to this wonderful child, the angel of the Lord brought the message to the faithful shepherds, and the great multitude of the heavenly hosts joined together with that angel in praising, God.—­Luke 2:9-11.

[257]We may be sure that these faithful, holy angels, as God’s instruments, were carefully watching every step of Jesus from the time of his birth up to the moment of his resurrection.  With eagerness they would watch and wait to see if Jesus fully met all the requirements of God’s law.  They evidently knew that his full compliance would meet with the marvelous reward of a resurrection from the dead.  It was one of these faithful messengers that the Lord sent from heaven to roll back the stone from the door of the tomb at the resurrection of the Master.  What great joy must have filled the heavenly courts now when they beheld Jesus, by the power of God, triumphant over death and the grave!