Who was the man who ran away naked?

[Sirach2]

. . . and why did St. Mark record this unusual event in his gospel? (Chapter 14:51) I was blessed to hear an explanation last week. If we couple this with St. John’s gospel (18:6) it makes more sense. A cohort (that’s 600 men!) was present to arrest Jesus, and when He spoke the words, “I AM he,” the entire cohort fell backwards on the ground.

Jesus’ words “I AM” were uttered with such power and authority, that it knocked them off their feet. Meanwhile, with that same power present, it is believed that the lad was resurrected from the tomb in the garden’s cemetery. The wording used by Mark was that he had a linen cloth wrapped about his naked body. The word for linen cloth is the same used for the cloth wrapped around Jesus’ body. This was the burial custom in that culture, to wrap a naked body in a linen shroud and bury it.

When the boy was resurrected and the men tried to seize him, he left the cloth and ran away naked. Too bad Mark did not elaborate, and it seemed very strange to mention this at all, until we read it in light of John’s account.

This was something that always puzzled me a bit, and I was grateful to happen upon this TV presentation.

 

[ShrodingersCat]

I think the most common theory is that it was St. John.

 

[midori]

48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all forsook him, and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

So, you see two things happened: Number one, all his followers forsook him and fled; and then number two, there was a young man who was seized, but he left his linen behind and ran away.

So because all of the followers fled first, you would expect that to cover Peter/John/James/anyone else that he had taken to the garden.

But because it’s something that you only see in Mark’s gospel, and is kind of a piece of randomness that doesn’t quite fit, many people think that it was Mark himself, basically saying, “Hey, I was there, and this is what I saw.”

 

[Bixby]

I’m not a scripture scholar, but had always thought it was St Mark himself, for the reasons given above.

 

[Sirach2]

But because it’s something that you only see in Mark’s gospel, and is kind of a piece of randomness that doesn’t quite fit, many people think that it was Mark himself

I disagree that it was Mark. When you look up that scripture in Greek for “linen cloth,” the word used is “sidona” which is the same Greek word used in Mark 15:46 to describe the linen cloth that Jesus was buried in. I trust the scholar who researched this, and said that the burial custom of that culture was to have the body naked, and then wrapped in a linen cloth.

It makes more sense to me that someone was resurrected with the burial cloth still around him. No wonder the cohort tried to seize him, since a resurrection would spoil all their plans to pin a crime on Jesus. If it was Mark or another apostle, they would have had more clothing on than a mere linen cloth.

Thanks for joining the discussion.

 

[Dan_Defender]

But because it’s something that you only see in Mark’s gospel, and is kind of a piece of randomness that doesn’t quite fit, many people think that it was Mark himself, basically saying, “Hey, I was there, and this is what I saw.”

I second that. That is my take too.

 

[TheMortenBay]

I always liked the interpretation that it was the rich man who had given up all his earthly possessions.

 

[midori]

Sure. The “σινδόνα” significance theory has its points, but a lot of its proponents try to go further and use the combination of young man + sindón as a way of connecting the identity of the unknown person in the Garden with the identity of the individual hanging out in the tomb.

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “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. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

I’m not sure if I see an anonymous person who runs away naked in the Garden having the privilege of being the first person in the tomb, and calmly hanging out in there until other people come by to visit it, and then brings them up to speed.

The other gospels aren’t very helpful in sorting it out-- Matthew gives us an angel rolling away the stone; Mark has a young man sitting inside the tomb; Luke has two men appearing to the women out of nowhere; and John has two angels sitting inside the tomb. But that’s a different subject for a different day— but just a reminder that the σινδόνα theory is usually a two-part theory, so if you’re going to embrace the first half, you’re usually in a situation where you have to defend the second half.

Like @TheMortenBay mentioned, a third theory is that it was the rich young man who had asked what he needed to do to be justified, and went away sad when Jesus said all that was left, after having done x, y, and z, was to give up his earthly possessions and follow him. It would be a nice thought if he had later found the courage to take that kind of path, with only a piece of linen-- an expensive, upper-class kind of cloth-- to cover himself (ie, no undergarments). It would have had a powerful symbolism in that he had given up all he had to follow Jesus, and then upon the loss of his Master, he would have also lost what little he had left.

 

[midori]

Back to the Mark theory-- an interesting side-note-- you get Acts 12, where the angel helps Peter escape from prison.

12 When this had dawned on him, he [Peter] went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

So, here you get Mark/John’s mother’s house being a gathering place for early Christians, and she’s affluent enough to have a servant doorkeeper. Some people use that to base the theory that the Last Supper was celebrated at this same location, and that either Mark had been sleeping at his mom’s house and had gone out to follow them without bothering to get dressed, or Mark had gotten wind of bad stuff afoot, and had gone to warn Jesus, but was too late.

So a lot of it comes down to whether it’s a linen cloth in the sense of a sheet vs a winding sheet… ie, a blanket vs a shroud. Lots of ink has been spilled, and scholars will continue to do so!

 

[AlbMagno]

Or you can just make a fourth theory that relates the naked man to a resurrected person but not to the one in Jesus’ Tomb, i.e. cutting in half the second theory.

 

[BartholomewB]

Mark had been sleeping at his mom’s house and had gone out to follow them without bothering to get dressed,

That’s the explanation that makes most sense to me.

a sheet vs a winding sheet… ie, a blanket vs a shroud.

A shroud, meaning another resurrection? The Raising of Lazarus occurred a few days earlier, and in just 48 hours’ time Jesus will be resurrected. If there had been a third resurrection in the same week, the Gospels would have mentioned it, I think.

 

[Sirach2]

I tend to follow your thought, AlbMagno.

Or you can just make a fourth theory that relates the naked man to a resurrected person but not to the one in Jesus’ Tomb, i.e. cutting in half the second theory.

I hope I did not muddy the waters by comparing the use of “sidona” in Greek, meaning “linen cloth” in both verses. I simply meant to show that the gospel uses the same Greek word for “linen cloth” in which Jesus was wrapped as was left by the naked man. Both were used as a burial cloths, and not an ordinary piece of outer clothing.

Following your thought, Jesus was laid in a tomb that was never used by anyone before. Very fitting for Him.

 

[midori]

A shroud, meaning another resurrection? The Raising of Lazarus occurred a few days earlier, and in just 48 hours’ time Jesus will be resurrected. If there had been a third resurrection in the same week, the Gospels would have mentioned it, I think.

That’s a fourth popular theory… that it was Lazarus.

 

[Mintaka]

In secular Greek literature, it can mean not just linen, but any garment or item made of linen. Like saying, “I was wearing my tweed.”

It does also mean bedsheets.

 

[BartholomewB]

It does also mean bedsheets.

Which is what it means here, I think. The young man was in too much of a hurry to put on his tunic so he just went out wrapped in his bedsheet.

 

[Sirach2]

That is a real stretch of one’s imagination. Have you EVER gone out your door in such a hurry that you did not at least throw on a t-shirt and a pair of pants? How long could it possibly take?

No matter what the true meaning is, one is free to interpret it as one believes, since there is not enough information in this gospel to know exactly what took place. Me? I’m trusting the scholar who gave the presentation as to what he understood.

Since Jesus’ words had such power to cause a whole cohort (600) of men to fall to the ground, I can easily imagine that there was enough power to effect a resurrection of the naked young man.

 

[Elf01]

at is a real stretch of one’s imagination. Have you EVER gone out your door in such a hurry that you did not at least throw on a t-shirt and a pair of pants? How long could it possibly take?

You might if your house is on fire.

 

[BartholomewB]

Have you EVER gone out your door in such a hurry that you did not at least throw on a t-shirt and a pair of pants?

Yes, I have, quite often. So far this year, say about ten times, and always for the same reason. The last time was just a few hours ago, at 3:15 this morning. The dogs were barking and I went out to see what was going on.

 

[Sirach2]

As an aside, do you sleep “naked” and just grab a sheet?

 

[BartholomewB]

No, I don’t sleep naked, but there’s a reason for that. I don’t live in Judea in the Herodian period. Have you found the word “pajamas” anywhere in the Bible?