What does Matthew 28:1 mean?

We last saw these two women sitting opposite Jesus' tomb. They watched as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:39–40) wrapped Jesus' body, placed it in the tomb, and rolled a large stone in front of it (Matthew 27:59–61). They had followed Joseph from the cross to the grave, likely ready to assist with the body if needed. There was a hurry to get Jesus' body into the tomb before the Sabbath began at sundown. It would have been a violation of the law to be handling the body and doing that work on the Sabbath. The women wanted to know where Jesus' body was so they could return after the Sabbath and complete the preparations of Jesus' body for burial.

In the meantime, on the Sabbath, Pilate had agreed to allow the chief priests and the Pharisees to post some of the temple guard of Roman soldiers to guard the tomb (Matthew 27:62–66). They wanted to prevent Jesus' followers from stealing His body and claiming that He had been resurrected, as He said He would be (John 2:19–22).

Now it is around dawn on Sunday morning. The Sabbath would have ended at sundown the evening before, but the darkness would have prevented the women from coming to the tomb before sunrise. Matthew says that Mary Magdalene and the "other Mary" have gone to the see the tomb. The other Mary is described by Matthew as the mother of James and Joseph (Matthew 27:56). She might have been the "wife of Clopas" mentioned in John 19:25. Mark's account reveals that a woman named Salome was with them (Mark 16:1) and they brought spices to anoint Jesus' body. Salome is probably the mother of Jesus' disciples James and John, the "sons of Zebedee" (Matthew 27:56).