After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you." Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." (Mt 28:1-10)
The Angel of the Lord appeared. We see angel in the Gospel of Mathew at he time of his birth and now at his resurrection. At birth the Angel appeared to Joseph and cleared his doubts and revealed the identity of Jesus. The child that was to be born was by the Holy Spirit and Joseph was commissioned to take care of the child and also to protect him from Herod who wanted to kill the child.
Here also the Angel appeared but to the women who were seeking the body of Jesus. They were also looking at the human side of Jesus while the Angel revealed that he has been raised from the death and he was going to Galilee as he had said earlier. The Angel revealed who Jesus was (the women were only looking for the Jesus who was crucified) and the Angel said: Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
The women were commissioned to tell the other disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead. They ran from the tomb with mixed feelings (fearful yet overjoyed). Jesus met them on their way and revealed himself to them. The message of the risen Lord is: “Do not be afraid. You will see me there”.
