Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Mark

[Spiderman]

I was reading this morning about the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. just after his arrest and before seeing the council it said "And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked." I then looked in Matthew, Luke and John and didn't see any mention of this after the arrest of Jesus. Being the Bible ..there is a point to everything in it. Is this mentioned anywhere else..and who was the young man?

[jimwalton]

The 12 disciples were not the only people following Jesus around. The Gospels on occasion mention others, and sometimes particularly mentioning women who were part of His group of followers.

The most obvious point of this reference is that everyone, simply everyone who was there, deserted him and fled at the moment of his arrest. The mention of his nakedness shows his desperation to get away—anything to save his own skin.

Mark is an astute writer who includes lots of historical elements with symbolic meaning. The only other mention of any linen garment in the Gospel is the linen burial shroud of Jesus. Remember that Jesus was stripped twice during his passion: one when he was stripped so they could mock him in the purple robe, and the other when he was stripped to be crucified. Stripping is portrayed by Mark as "humiliation." Mark is making yet another of his many references to the failure of the disciples.