Mark 14:51-52 Who was this?

[Greenbrier]

Thanks for this board. I have a question about the passage here. As I was reading Mark today, I realized I had never thought much about this person who was with our Lord when the temple mob grabbed him the night he was betrayed.

"A young man was following Him, wearing {nothing but} a linen sheet over {his} naked {body;} and they *seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked."

The fact that he was wearing nothing but a linen sheet seems highly significant. The thought that came to me was that this was possibly one of the Angels who until that moment had guarded the path of the Lord. I looked in the other accounts in the other gospels but find no mention.

As this is my first post I will also say thank you for this board. I don't pretend to understand very much about many of the topics here but the Bible Wheel is such a compelling model, I am continually drawn back here to look and more articles.

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Thanks for this board. I have a question about the passage here. As I was reading Mark today, I realized I had never thought much about this person who was with our Lord when the temple mob grabbed him the night he was betrayed.

"A young man was following Him, wearing {nothing but} a linen sheet over {his} naked {body;} and they *seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked."

The fact that he was wearing nothing but a linen sheet seems highly significant. The thought that came to me was that this was possibly one of the Angels who until that moment had guarded the path of the Lord. I looked in the other accounts in the other gospels but find no mention.

As this is my first post I will also say thank you for this board. I don't pretend to understand very much about many of the topics here but the Bible Wheel is such a compelling model, I am continually drawn back here to look and more articles.

Hi Jeff,

I've heard that there is a tradition that says it was John Mark, the author of the Gospel. But I don't know of anything that would support that idea. The Jerome Bible commentary lists a few other guesses:


This enigmatic detail is found exclusively in Mk. Its purpose is elusive; but it heightens the desertion of Jesus by his own. The young man is not identified; idle conjectures have named various candidates: John the Apostle (Ambrose, Chrysostom, Bede); James, 'the brother of the Lord' (Epiphanius); John Mark (many modern commentators).So the one thing we know for certain is that we can not know for certain who it was. The Bible doesn't say, and people have been guessing about it since the beginning.

My opinion is slightly different. God included this detail for a reason, but the reason was not for us to guess about the person's identity, since God did not give us that information. So what is the purpose? I would think that it is symbolic. The follower of Christ had his clothing stripped just like Christ was soon to have his stripped. And as I was pondering this, I just noticed that this idea is strengthened by the word translated as "linen cloth":


σινδων sindon {sin-done'} of uncertain (perhaps foreign) origin;; n f AV - linen cloth 3, linen 2, fine linen 1; 6 1) linen cloth, esp. that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped 2) thing made of fine cloth 2a) of a light and loose garment worn at night over a naked body

This is the same word used in the next chapter when Christ was buried:


Mark 15:46 And he bought fine linen (sindon), and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
So it seems to me that the appearance of this linen cloth at the moment Christ was captured, and then again when He was buried, points to an intentional symbolism, though I have not developed its full meaning yet.

As for the idea of the young man being an angel ... what made you think of that?

Richard

[Greenbrier]

As for the idea of the young man being an angel ... what made you think of that?

Richard

Thanks Richard for the response. My thought about it possibly being an angel was my struggle with the timeline concerning our Lord being 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth. I thought that if this was an angel, and the angel left Him at that moment, then the clock would start that evening (the evening and the morning were the first day).

"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." PS 91:11.

"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" Mat 26:53

"But Jesus answered and said, "Stop! No more of this." And He touched his ear and healed him." Luke 22:51

The fact that one of the number had a sword and struck a blow in defense of the Lord seems to fit the role of the angels. It also makes sense that the mob would try to lay hands on the one who did it.

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Thanks Richard for the response. My thought about it possibly being an angel was my struggle with the timeline concerning our Lord being 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth. I thought that if this was an angel, and the angel left Him at that moment, then the clock would start that evening (the evening and the morning were the first day).

"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." PS 91:11.

"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" Mat 26:53

"But Jesus answered and said, "Stop! No more of this." And He touched his ear and healed him." Luke 22:51

The fact that one of the number had a sword and struck a blow in defense of the Lord seems to fit the role of the angels. It also makes sense that the mob would try to lay hands on the one who did it.
Ah, I get you. You feel that the time should be an exact 72 hours? Why do you think that? I know this issue has bothered a LOT of brothers and sisters over the years. Hundreds of "solutions" have been suggested so that people could work out the exact sequence of events of the Passion Week. But the fact that people have been working on it for two thousand years without a definite solution pretty much tells me God did not intend for us to worry about it, or He would have made the answer more accessible.

I tend to think that God did not intend for us to understand His Word with that kind of extreme literalism anyway. It seems to me that He used a lot of symbolism, like saying Jesus is a Door and Lamb and the Bright Morning Star. So when I read God's Word, I feel like I am reading the words of someone smarter than any human author I have ever read, and since I have never known a human author who would expect me to interpret his poetic language literally, I don't expect it from God either.

The whole question about how to interpret the symbols and forms of speech in the Bible is extremely important and very interesting. I look forward to learning what you think about it.

Richard

[Greenbrier]

Ah, I get you. You feel that the time should be an exact 72 hours? Why do you think that? Richard

Not necessarily exactly 72 hours but definitely 3 days and three nights.

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. "
Mat 12:40

Starting the time at the moment he was taken by the mob makes the timeline fit nicely. The heart of the earth then would not just mean his burial but the heart of the earth would be the wicked power of the Temple elete and Roman power into whose hand he was delivered.

Jeff

[White]

Hi Jeff & Richard,

I just want to jump in real quick conc. this confusing issue about
3 days and 3 nights / 72 hours. In my studies in Judaism I came
across information (maybe in their Pentateuch), that by the Jewish
calculations, any part of the day is considered to be a full day,
thus the maximum time Jesus would have to be in the tomb would be
1 hr (or less) for the first day - 24 hours for the second day - and one hour or less for the 3rd day - so let's say 26 hours as a minimum - and it would be considered as 3 days and 3 nights. I'll try to dig up the information in the next few days, as time allows.

Shalom to Jerusalem and the Holy Land
Shalom among Jews, Christians and Muslims with Y'SHUA / JESUS in the
Heart of all
White

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Hi Jeff & Richard,

I just want to jump in real quick conc. this confusing issue about
3 days and 3 nights / 72 hours. In my studies in Judaism I came
across information (maybe in their Pentateuch), that by the Jewish
calculations, any part of the day is considered to be a full day,
thus the maximum time Jesus would have to be in the tomb would be
1 hr (or less) for the first day - 24 hours for the second day - and one hour or less for the 3rd day - so let's say 26 hours as a minimum - and it would be considered as 3 days and 3 nights. I'll try to dig up the information in the next few days, as time allows.

Shalom to Jerusalem and the Holy Land
Shalom among Jews, Christians and Muslims with Y'SHUA / JESUS in the
Heart of all
White

Thanks White,

That's how most folks understand the three days - they encompass at least some portion of three separate days. I think that's probably correct. I agree with Greenbrier that it was really three days, just not necessarily exactly 72 hours. Pretty much anything between 26 and 72 hours works so along as it spans part of three days.

Richard

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Not necessarily exactly 72 hours but definitely 3 days and three nights.

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. "
Mat 12:40

Starting the time at the moment he was taken by the mob makes the timeline fit nicely. The heart of the earth then would not just mean his burial but the heart of the earth would be the wicked power of the Temple elete and Roman power into whose hand he was delivered.

Jeff
OK - that makes sense to me, although I myself don't feel a need to match the time-line that precisely. What is your motivation? Is it just curiosity, or does this issue tie in with something else you are studying?

Richard

[Greenbrier]

OK - that makes sense to me, although I myself don't feel a need to match the time-line that precisely. What is your motivation? Is it just curiosity, or does this issue tie in with something else you are studying?

Richard

No the question is not related to any other study. I was just reading thru Mark and noticed the man in linen and began wondering and then my mind wondered on to the idea of the time line etc) so I said "why not ask the bulletin board". A curiosity? Yes. But also the need to have an answer if an unbeliever challenges based on a perceived error in the time line. I lalso love finding nuggets of the Word that I haven't mullled over and then doing so.

Jeff

[Greenbrier]

by the Jewish
calculations, any part of the day is considered to be a full day,
thus the maximum time Jesus would have to be in the tomb would be
1 hr (or less) for the first day - 24 hours for the second day - and one hour or less for the 3rd day - so let's say 26 hours as a minimum - and it would be considered as 3 days and 3 nights.

White

Interesting additional info, White. There are so many things I'll bet I'd understand better if I knew more about the Jewish culture of the period. Thanks.

[gilgal]

I think the interesting thing about this person in Mark 14 is that it doesn't tell you right away but you have to play the detective and read the gospel entirely as well as Acts to figure it out.

I had learnt that it was John Mark the author of the Gospel of Mark through a book that revealed the mysteries of the bible.


Mark 14:13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.

And later on:


Mark 14:51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

I admit that there is no mention that there is no proof to link this passage to the one above, but my logic is that how did Mark get his account of what happened straight when all the disciples were sleeping and Jesus was left praying?

The upper room where Jesus asked to go to belonged to a family that the son of the family happened to carry a vessel of water ( usually the women would do that ). Jesus told two of his disciples to go ask the son who carried the vessel that he was going to spend his passover meal with them.

Later on in Acts it is mentioned that the upper room belonged to Barnabas ( well I'm not 100% sure. If not he was a relative to them. You can check Acts 1 - 13 ).


Acts 12:12
And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.



Acts 12:25
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.



Acts 15:37
And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Here's the account of why Paul didn't want John Mark to join him again:

Acts 13:5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
Acts 15:37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.
38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.
39 And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus.

Acts 4:36
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

[Greenbrier]

I admit that there is no mention that there is no proof to link this passage to the one above, but my logic is that how did Mark get his account of what happened straight when all the disciples were sleeping and Jesus was left praying?



Thanks Gilgal for that view and the evidences supporting the idea that it was Mark. So you are saying the all the disciples fell asleep except the young man and he stayed awake and was so able to give an eyewitness account?

Of course we don't know who was the particular eyewitness in many of the accounts in the Bible. That all scripture is inspired by God, of that we can be sure.

I'll have to look over this some more...why was he clothed only in a linen garment? Why for that matter was he carrying water when it was normally a Woman's job?

Jeff

[Greenbrier]

I'll have to look over this some more...why was he clothed only in a linen garment?
Jeff

I used the database to look up linen garment and found the following:

σινδων sindon {sin-done'} of uncertain (perhaps foreign) origin;; n f AV - linen cloth 3, linen 2, fine linen 1; 6 1) linen cloth, esp. that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped 2) thing made of fine cloth 2a) of a light and loose garment worn at night over a naked body

That seems to fit since this was at night. Seems to support the idea that it was not an angel. I think the John Mark explanation seems most likely.

[fredrkoehler@gmail.com]

Thanks Richard for your insight into the verse about Mark 14:51-52

[Unregistered]

I am doing a spot of research on this same subject, and found a page which I am very fond of. I have read veritable hours worth of commentaries on related passages, and I choose this one for the bulk of my material due to the fact that it is very exegetically proper, and does justice to the original language the text was written in.
As a theological student I can not stress enough the importance of learning the original languages the bible was written in; it is something every pastor simply must do.

http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/893/1130

[macon12mileroad]

There are many men around the world who know just what was going on in these two verses. But, even some of them have not thought about it.