Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 16:4

"and looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back: for it was exceeding great." — Mark 16:4 (ASV)

Mark makes no attempt to explain how the stone was removed. Once inside the tomb the women saw a young man dressed in a white robe; his dress suggests an angel (cf. Matthew 28:2). No human eyes saw the resurrection, but angels, as witnesses of God’s actions, could report what happened. The reaction of the women to the angel was what one would expect: “They were alarmed.”