The key figures in this story are not the angel, not the guards, but the women. The women—the first gospel preachers commissioned by the angel—arrived at the tomb “to see.” Although women’s roles in the first century were generally not those of honor or privilege, every Gospel writer records that women found the empty tomb. From the first moments after the resurrection, the Gospel writers make it clear that something has changed. Women are given the honor of being the first to tell the world that Jesus is alive! Women were the first gospel preachers!