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Mark 16:6
ESV And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
NIV "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
NASB But he *said to them, 'Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him.
CSB "Don’t be alarmed," he told them. "You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.
NLT but the angel said, 'Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
KJV And he saith unto 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.
NKJV But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

What does Mark 16:6 mean?

"Alarmed" is from the Greek root word ekthambeō. It can mean "to be amazed, to be terrified." Mark also uses the word when he describes Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane as "greatly distressed" (Mark 14:33). It's typical for angels to tell people to not be afraid of them (Daniel 10:12, 19; Luke 2:10). Here in addition, this seems to be reassurance about the fact that Jesus' body is gone, and they have, in fact, come to the correct tomb.

The place where Jesus had laid was a bench cut out of the stone. His burial shroud stretched out where His body had been, and the cloth that covered His head was folded and sat a bit apart (John 20:6–7). Much has been made about this "folded handkerchief." Some claim this was a Jewish mealtime tradition implying that someone was planning to return to the table. Not all scholars accept that this was a custom in that era, however. It may be that as Jesus' body left, the cloth that was wrapped around His head and face simply collapsed in place.

Christians may be quick to criticize the women for not believing the angel, but we ought to be sympathetic. It's easy to walk into a situation so expecting heartbreak that we fail to see the victory around us. God doesn't do what we think He will, and we faithfully resolve to make the best of it. But our view is so myopic we don't realize what He has done is so much greater. When faced with defeat and failure, sometimes we need to look up, realize there is more to life than the path we had planned, and have quiet faith that God will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

We tend to speak of "blind faith," but that is not how God really works. He invites us to see. Jesus showed the disciples His hands and side (John 20:20, 24–29; Luke 24:39) and ate (Luke 24:41–43). Witnesses are invited to see the bare bench, but misinterpret what it means (John 20:13). God proves Himself to us every day. Our responsibility is to get to know Him well enough that we can recognize when He is acting in our lives. We do this by listening to His Word—the Scriptures—and believing them. That's something the disciples had a hard time with throughout Jesus' entire ministry.
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