BEFORE the women came to the tomb the angel had descended from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the entrance thereof. Then again, before that,, the Lord, having risen from the dead, had come out of the sepulcher. So that the object of the angel's opening the tomb was not as is often supposed, to let the Lard out, but to let the women look in, and see that He was not there, to convince them that what He had told them was true, that the Lord was really risen.
In the narrative the events are given in their inverse order. Their order, historically, being as follows:—
1.—The resurrection.
2.—The descent of the angel.
3.—The coming of the women.