Mark 14:51-52 51And a certain young man followed him, with a linen cloth about his name body, and they seized him; 52but he left the linen cloth and fled naked.
This strange story is found only in Mark. Speculators have suggested that this was John Mark, the author of this Gospel, who as a young man was following Jesus but not one of the inner disciples. This insert could be Mark’s form of authorship signature for the Gospel. Of course, this theory has no firm basis but only guesswork, which is not a good way to interpret the Bible. Looking at just the story itself, there are several interesting ideas about this ending to the garden scene. One is that all the disciples of Jesus had fled, leaving him to face his accusers alone. This young man was brave enough to follow and see what would happen. He appears as an innocent and anonymous bystander to all the events. Another is that this young man was following Jesus specifically, not the throng of people who arrested him. Following Jesus is always significant in Mark’s Gospel and assumes some degree of faith. This man was young (neaniskos), perhaps in his teen years, implying that Jesus attracted youth as his followers.
Another interesting note from this passage is that even though the young man was following Jesus, when the pressure came and the representatives from the Sanhedrin seized him, he also fled with nothing on. The soldiers may have grabbed his one garment and not him, allowing him to slip out of it, leaving it behind but allowing him to escape. Even the curious young man no naked left Jesus alone. The would-be disciple who took a small risk gave in to the fear of what could happen to him. Mark may have included this story as a fulfillment of Amos 2:16: “‘Even the bravest among the warriors will flee naked in that day,’ declares the Lord.” Everyone turned their back on Jesus, though as we find out later, Peter did follow from a distance to watch the trial. When the real pressure comes, how will we react, and what cost are we willing to pay to be identified with Jesus?
For older posts, click here.