Most people miss even reading this part in Mark’s Gospel.
Jesus has the last supper with his disciples and then he goes to the garden of Gethsemane and gets arrested. In the middle of the drama and the tension, in Mark’s gospel, we read this random statement in Mark 14.
“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When the soldier seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” – Mark 14:51-52
What a strange occurrence. And why is it there? Here’s the best explanation that’s supported by scholars.
That man was the gospel writer, Mark, himself. It was his way of saying, “I was there.”
This also adds support to the claim that the last supper actually took place in Mark’s family’s house. Mark would have been a young boy and he would have been trying to sleep, which is why he was naked. He was wearing nothing but a linen garment or a night-sheet.
When he saw Jesus and the disciples leave his house to go to Gethsemane, he would have followed them secretly.
But when the soldiers found him, he ran away naked.
Think about it. How else does the gospel writer write about Jesus praying in the garden, distressed and troubled, before the day of his crucifixion? All the other disciples were sleeping, weren’t they? Who heard Jesus pray?
Mark did. He was there – a young man, listening.
That’s why we read about the naked man.
It was Mark’s humble way of saying, I was there.
