Note 1 at Mt. 28:11: The guards told the chief priests all the things that had happened at the tomb. That means they had the complete account of the earthquake, the angels rolling away the stone, the angels' message to the women that Jesus was alive from the dead, and possibly they had even seen Jesus walk out of the tomb.

The very ones that the Jews had secured to guarantee that there would be no rumors of Jesus being raised from the dead became the first witnesses and heralds of the resurrection. Yet, with the testimony of impartial, non-religious eyewitnesses, they chose not to believe (Lk. 16:31).