9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
The women accepted the testimony - of the angel and on the basis of it went to tell forth the news of His rising again. And it was as they did this that Jesus met them (9). This also is something that has relevance in another than literal sense, and that in a twofold way. On the one hand, it illustrates the response of faith men make to the gospel. We are called to believe the testimony of the messengers of the good news, and when we do, stepping out in faith, Christ the living One meets us. In other words, it is a matter of putting him, and the gospel, to the test. After all, if He is really a living Saviour, He can be met! On the other hand, it illustrates Christian service. When we go forth with the message of the gospel, and in obedience to His command, He meets with us, giving us the glad assurance of His presence and the promise of His power to enable and energise us. We do not go to this warfare on our own charges!