When they heard this, they went out and fled from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
The women’s reaction shows how great and unexpected the news of the resurrection was for them. They were terrified, because they were standing before Christ’s victory over death. Their silence was the first result of fear and trembling, not lasting disobedience. Before the great works of God, a person sometimes is struck silent at first and cannot speak immediately. Yet that fear was soon to be turned into testimony. This verse reminds us that the mystery of the resurrection is not ordinary news, but a divine reality that shakes a person’s whole being. Faith often begins with amazement, then is strengthened by the remembrance of the word, and in the end becomes testimony.