Barely Escaping Capture

Who is the naked guy in Mark's Gospel?

Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." All of them deserted him and fled. A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked. - Mark 14:43-52

It seems a bit odd to have such a serious moment when Jesus is betrayed by Judas, end with a naked man running away.

It is believed that the young man is the evangelist himself, the author of the story.

It was common practice back then to put yourself into your story when telling it to a group, and Mark follows that tradition.

He wants us to know that he was there, and we will remember that because he literally "barely" escapes capture.

Maybe his attempt to lighten up the moment is a way to letting us know this will turn out okay in the end.  Jesus will be sacrificed, yes, but the story won't end there.

That is a good message for all of us, about this life we lead now.

It will go through a disturbing transition, ending in one realm but it will arise in another.

We don't like to talk about that, do we?

It's funny, in a way, because that is the good news of Jesus, the Messiah.  We will be saved for eternity.

But like Mark, we want to run away, to avoid death as long as possible.

I don't think that means we don't have faith or we don't believe.  It just means we have become accustomed to what we have here.  And we don't want to lose it.  Not yet.  Not now.

Who knows what would have happened to Mark if he was caught.

He wouldn't have written down the Gospel we are reading now, and we would have missed out on his version of events in Jesus' life.

Maybe that is why he was able to get away.  And maybe that gives us reason to hope.

We all have something we can do to help spread the good news of Christ, and we may be able to avoid the inevitable just long enough to do what God has planned for us.

Of course, we wouldn't want to miss the opportunity all together, would we?

So the challenge for us is to decide when to start.  Maybe we shouldn't wait  until they are after us.

More to come...