Mark 16:4 (DRB)

Passage

And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great.

Nearby Context

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen.

Mark 16:3 And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Mark 16:4 And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great.

Mark 16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished.

Mark 16:6 Who saith to them: Be not affrighted. you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen: he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "looking", "stone", "rolled", "back", "very", and "great". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "looking" and "stone", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And they said one to another Who..." into verse 5's "And entering into the sepulchre they saw...", so "looking" and "stone" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "looking" and "stone" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.