The Tuesday ladies’ class, which I teach, is studying through the gospel of Mark. We came across these curious verses:
“And they all left him (Jesus) and fled. 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.” (Mark 14:50–52 ESV)
I was asked did I think he was completely naked. I replied in good southern English that he seemed to be “buck naked” (i.e. completely for those of you not from the south!). One of the ladies suggested a sermon around the verses called “The First Streaker.” I told them when I got in trouble with the elders for such a sermon, I would just tell them the ladies wanted to hear about the naked man!
It is a rather odd couple of verses in the midst of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus. Most commentators suggest Mark is the most likely candidate to be the young man who flees naked. He is the author of the book.
But why would Mark include this story in the book? Why would he include it and not give the name of the man?
I don’t know those answers, but I think there may actually be a couple of lessons in these verses.
1. This shows the chaotic nature of the night’s events. All the disciples were fleeing. A Roman cohort was arresting and hauling Jesus off to trial. It was a scary night to be His disciples. Jesus must have felt alone, rejected, and forsaken. Mark lets us know that the Apostles weren’t the only ones scared.
2. It could be that Mark was including this story, if it is about himself, to show his own failures on this night. Mark’s gospel is the gospel of power written to the Romans. It shows the power of Christ as God’s son. Mark must have been ashamed of this episode which shows his excitement to learn of Christ condition, then his fear when his linen covering is grabbed. The gospel story is calling these Roman readers, who were filled with pride and arrogance, to see their own sin and humble themselves in obedience to Christ. Mark had just told the story of Peter, James, and John sleeping in the garden when they should have been watching and praying. Mark will go on to fail again on a missionary journey with Paul apparently returning home before completing the trip. But he will eventually be described by Paul as being “very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).
Maybe the point of including this story is to encourage the reader to be humble and put your faith in Christ. You cannot do it on your own power, but when you trust in His power you can go on to do great things. It seems Mark went from being a scared streaker to a gospel writer and co-worker to Paul.
