“Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
The full verse · Mark 16:3 · KJV
they , shall the the of the ?
Asked by
Women at the Tomb: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, who had bought sweet spices to anoint Jesus' body (Mark 16:1)
Asked to
Women at the Tomb: the same three women, speaking "among themselves" on the way to the sepulchre (Mark 16:3)
The Scene
Very early on the first day of the week, after the sabbath, three women come to the sepulchre at sunrise with spices to anoint Jesus' body (Mark 16:1-2).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe women faced a real problem. Two of them had seen where Jesus was laid (Mark 15:47), and Joseph had "rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre" (Mark 15:46). Mark adds that the stone "was very great" (Mark 16:4), and Barnes says those words belong with the women's question in Mark 16:3, explaining why they worried. They came out of love, to anoint His body. Barnes notes that their coming with spices shows they "did not suppose he would rise again." Gill says they may have asked it "either before they set out, or as they were going along," and that the stone "was the only difficulty they had, that they were aware of," since they seem to have known nothing of the sealing of the stone or the watch set at the tomb (Matthew 27:66). Their question was about reaching a dead body, not about meeting a risen Lord.
The Response
What Scripture recordsGod answered before they arrived. "When they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great" (Mark 16:4). Inside they saw a young man in a long white garment and were afraid (Mark 16:5). He told them, "Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him" (Mark 16:6). Matthew records that the angel of the Lord had rolled back the stone (Matthew 28:2).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsJesus had been laid in "a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock," and a stone was rolled to its door (Mark 15:46). The women waited until "the sabbath was past" (Mark 16:1) before coming, then came "very early in the morning the first day of the week" (Mark 16:2).
The "sweet spices" they bought were for anointing the body (Mark 16:1). Barnes explains the word as "Aromatics. Substances used in embalming," and says they were not necessarily sweet.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThe women worried about the wrong problem. They asked who would move the stone, but the real news was that the tomb was empty. God had gone ahead of them, and the obstacle they feared had already been removed. Matthew Henry draws the lesson: "those who are carried by holy zeal, to seek Christ diligently, will find the difficulties in their way speedily vanish."
The young man's message points back to Jesus' own words: "he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you" (Mark 16:7). Jesus had told His disciples more than once that He would rise the third day (Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34). The resurrection was not a surprise to Him; it was the promise kept.
Look Closer
Why were the women worried about the stone?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, the women worried about a stone You had already moved; what stone am I carrying worry about that You may already have gone before me to remove?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The women went anyway, even without an answer to their question. What helps you keep going toward Jesus when you do not know how a problem will be solved?
- Tell about a time you worried about an obstacle and found God had already dealt with it.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
The women did not let an unsolved problem stop them. They asked their honest question on the way and kept walking. Faithfulness often looks like that: going toward Jesus before you know how it will work out.
This does not mean every obstacle will disappear before you reach it. But the women found more than they came for. They came expecting a body and found a message: "he is risen" (Mark 16:6).
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