18. Mark 14:51-52
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.
There has been a lot of speculation about the identity of this young man running naked from the scene of Jesus’ arrest.
Some have wondered if this might indeed be Mark himself, and this small detail something of a cameo appearance along the lines of Alfred Hitchcock. If so, this curious, almost amusing scene might function as something like Mark’s narrative signature, letting people know that he was, indeed, witness to some of the events of Jesus’ life.
Others instead see the loss of the linen cloth as baptismal imagery representing the need for the followers of Jesus to put off all their former raiment in order to be cleansed in the waters of baptism. We are, as Paul reminds us, baptized into Jesus’ death (Rom. 6:3). And so this young man symbolizes all who must put aside their former ways and be baptized into the death of Jesus.
But I wonder if the answer isn’t simpler. We saw in the last scene the willingness of one person to fight when confronted with the prospect of Jesus’ fate. Perhaps this episode – that follows immediately on the heels of the last – is simply a portrayal of the other option: flight. So eager is this young man to escape Jesus’ fate that he will leave everything, even his last stitch of clothing, to escape.
If so, then perhaps there is a reason Mark masks the identity of both characters. Later tradition will identity the sword wielder as one of Jesus’ companions (Matt. 26:51) and eventually name him as Peter (John 18:10). The other character fades from the gospel stories altogether. But Mark names neither. Why? I think it might be that he is naming the options before all of us – to fight for Jesus in order that he (and we) might be spared his fate, or to flee from it.
Both the swordsman and the streaker, then, are representative of all Jesus’ disciples, then and now. We have two choices the world puts before us. Neither will avail. Violence will not end violence, and yet even the most swift cannot escape the corruption of the world. There is only one way forward. But we cannot tread it. So Jesus goes in our place, standing in for both the brave and the cowardly, the one prone to violence and the one prone to flight. Jesus stands in for both. Jesus stands in, that is, for us, and through his death ends death. And through his resurrected life creates for us the possibility for life, abundant life, now and forevermore.
Prayer: Dear God, you have done what we could not, saving us from ourselves. Fasten our gaze to the form of your Son, treading the path we could not walk, taking on our death that we might have life, teaching us of the power of love and empowering us to share that love with all the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Loved the thoughts and reflections for the last two days. Fight or flight has never been considered in any of the circles I’ve been a part of with this section of the story. It really puts things in a new light and it blatantly challenges us to see the way Jesus acts as all the more amazing. Not violence, not egress, but the faith and power to stand strong. Thank God for a God like that!
Thanks for the fresh insight on the this puzzling little story. “Fight or flight” – I’ve never heard it explained that way before. I’ll definately be sharing this in next month’s women’s study!
This post really struck me. I’ve enjoyed so many here, but this one especially will stay with me, I think. Thank you!
I happened to read the fight and flight devotions back to back, and when I was reading the fight devotion, Elliot Smith “Easy Way Out” came up on Pandora. I tend to be the fighter of the two responses and the song made me think, am I taking the easy way out? I thank God for his love and commitment to God’s people, so much so that he sent his only Son, who took the path that I cannot.