Today’s Text Reading – Mark 14:51-15:15
The passage we are reading today covers so much of the story of Jesus’ crucifixion that there is one hilarious section we could easily skip over. In fact, I have never heard anyone teach on this one or even really talk about it that much:
And a young man followed [Jesus], with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
Mark 14:51–52
Wait. What?
Who was this young man? No one knows for sure. Down through history, there has been a lot of speculation: was it John or Jesus’ brother James or just some random dude? Maybe Mark included this in his account because it was so crazy he remembered it well. Or maybe it was Mark himself. In fact, that is the most widely held view. This viewpoint would say that Mark heard that Jesus had been betrayed and was being dragged away. Instead of taking the time to get fully dressed, he just threw on a sheet and went running to see if he could do anything. By the time he got there, it was too late and when they ripped off his sheet he figured it was time to get out of Dodge.
You gotta love the Bible. One of the things that helps me trust the historicity and reliability of Scripture is sections like this. It happened, so the author threw it in there. It’s as simple as that.
Can’t wait to meet this guy in heaven and ask him about that day. I suppose he never gets tired of telling the story.
