Their question to her is a legitimate one: why is she weeping? Lenski comments “Indeed, why does she weep? – when we should all have had cause to weep to all eternity if what she wept for had been given her, the dead body of her Lord?” In this concern their question is a rebuke for her lack of faith in what Jesus had foretold would happen to Him (Matt 16:21, 17:22-23). Mary was crying when she should have been rejoicing!

Matthew 16:21  From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Matthew 17:22-23  When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

Often our faith is at the same level as Mary’s. We see the dark circumstances within which we find ourselves and complain about them and try to find a way out of them without realizing that they are instead the means by which Christ will accomplish great things in us and for us.

Their question is also one of concern and sympathy, for Mary is grieving and they are trying to comfort her. The depth of her grief is probably due to the emphasis the Jews placed upon a proper burial. They would be appalled at any disrespect paid to a corpse. Mary had no idea what had happened to the body of Jesus and it was distressing her greatly. The angels had something to say to her that would change her grief into joy (Isa 51:11). Sometimes the grief of our brother or sister is as misplaced as Mary’s and yet our responsibility is to comfort them and help them through their time of need.

Isaiah 51:11  The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Her response to their question is a lot like her words to the disciples in (20:2), although now she uses the singular “I” instead of “we”. There are no other women with her at this point and her weeping and the question of the angels is about her personal grief and she responds accordingly.

John 20:2  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

Another thing which we may find in this verse is the love that Mary has for her Lord. Nothing, not even the sight of angels, nor their conversation with her, moves her from her one desire: to find the body of Jesus and give it the proper burial He deserves.

The other women had earlier seen angels at the tomb and now Mary sees them. It is interesting that Peter and John, both of whom had just been in the tomb had not seen the angels. The writer of this gospel uses the present tense (literally “she sees”) for greater emphasis.

There had previously appeared a host of angels when Jesus was born, to praise him and His entrance into the physical world (Heb 1:6, Luke 2:8-14), but now there are just two. The reason for this is that they are not now praising Jesus, but witnessing to His resurrection and it only takes 2 or 3 witnesses to verify a matter (Deut 19:15).

Hebrews 1:6  And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Luke 2:8-14  And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

Deuteronomy 19:15  One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offence he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

These angels are wearing white, a sign of their holiness and purity.

Even though present, angels may or may not be visible to us depending upon whether God let us see them or not (Num 22:23, 2 Kings 6:17).

Numbers 22:23  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

2 Kings 6:17  And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha.

The other gospel accounts record different views of the angels. There is only one angel in (Matt 28:2-7), he is called a “young man” in (Mark 16:5), and “two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning” in (Luke 24:4). The women saw the angels, but the disciples did not. Why the differences? Temple has some insight along these lines: “It is not to be presumed that angels are physical objects reflecting rays of light upon the retina of the eye. When men ‘see’ or ’hear’ angels, it is rather to be supposed that an intense inner awareness of a divine message leads to the projection of an image which is then experienced as an occasion of something seen and heard. That divine messengers were sent and divine messages were received we need not doubt; that they took physical form so that all who ‘saw’ anything must ‘see’ the same thing we need not suppose.”

Matthew 28:2-7  There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Mark 16:5  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

Luke 24:4  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

McGarvey notes that “The angels were placed like cherubim upon the ark (Ex 25:19 , 20), as though the grave of Christ was a new mercy seat, which indeed it was.”

Exodus 25:19-20  Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends.
The cherubim are to have their wings spread upwards, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking towards the cover.