Mary Magdalene left the tomb at once before the rest and without seeing the angels as told in the Synoptics (Mark 16:2 -8; Matt 28:5 -8; Luke 24:1 -8). Luke (24:9-12) does not distinguish between the separate report of Mary Magdalene and that of the other women. Mary’s use of the plural “we” shows that the other women were with her upon her discovery of the empty tomb even though she is the only one that John mentions.

Mark 16:2-8  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb  and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”  Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Matthew 28:5-8  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.”  So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Luke 24:1-8  On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”  Then they remembered his words.

Luke 24:9-12  When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.  But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.  Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Mary’s first reaction to the empty tomb is to run and tell John and Peter who were apparantly staying nearby. She saw that the tomb was empty and immediately presumed that someone had stolen the body, never considering that Jesus may have risen from the dead. Whether her suspicions were that the chief priests had stolen the body or that Joseph and Nicodemus had quietly removed it to another location, the fact that she did not know where it was troubled her greatly. In reality, that which disturbed her so much was the ground for her greatest hope. How often do we look at the physical circumstances surrounding and affecting us and see them as evil when in fact God is using them for our good?

Mary does a good thing, though. Instead of keeping her fear and troubles within her, she pours them out to others. We would do well to do the same, for God gives us other believers to help us in our times of need.

Notice also that Peter is with John. Matthew Henry states that “though he had denied his Master, (he) had not deserted his Master’s friends” and by this we can see the sincerity of Peter’s repentance. It also says something about John and those who were still associating with Peter. What example does it give to us?