And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him,
Only Mark pauses the arrest scene for one nameless follower. He wore a single linen cloth. Men grabbed him, and he got away by leaving the cloth behind. It is the smallest incident in the darkest night. Readers have long asked who he was, why the Spirit kept the story, and what his flight says about following Jesus.
Only Mark keeps this detail
Only one Gospel writer kept this follower, and he tells us why the man ran.
C. E. StuartOnly Mark tells us about the young man who followed, wearing nothing but a linen cloth over his bare body. He left it behind rather than be arrested with Jesus.
Some have dismissed the verse as too small to matter. One writer replies that Scripture keeps other small details too:
William KellySome dare to treat the record of this incident as trivial. It is the same kind of thing as Paul's request to Timothy in his second letter (2 Tim. 4:13)… Nothing seems too ordinary for the Holy Spirit to use.
The unnamed young man
Because the story survives only here, some have guessed that Mark, who wrote this Gospel, was describing himself. Commentators differ, and none of them claims proof.
George C. WillisSome have thought he was the "young man" with the cloth thrown around his bare body who followed the Lord to the Garden… Only Mark tells us about this incident, but we cannot be sure it was him.
Whether or not the name can be settled, the value of the scene does not depend on it:
The Bible TreasuryBut whatever the answer, I always think that no other small detail gives such a vivid picture of the dismay and horror that fell on the disciples of Christ on that terrible night.
The last follower gives way
He stayed close when the rest had already scattered. One grab from the arresting party ended it.
William Kelly"And they all left Him and fled." Power would have kept them, but giving in to suffering began to work on them… Strength fails, and so does shame. The first attack was enough to drive him away. Man has no power to face death. Believers can face it — and even welcome it and rejoice in it — only because of Christ Himself and His death. He has taken out the sting, but it was not yet done. So the disciples left Him and fled, the young man and all. In Christ alone, who suffered for us, we stand.
Zeal without power ends in exposure
One follower went deeper into danger than the rest. That is why his escape was more shameful.
J. N. DarbyOne young man did try to go farther. But as soon as the officers seized him and grabbed his linen garment, he fled and left it in their hands. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the farther you go along the path where the power of the world and of death is at work, the greater the shame you escape with — if God lets you escape at all.
The garment that was never really his
Now look at the cloth itself. He had it thrown around him, and it was not his real clothing. One writer treats that as the point:
Samuel Ridoutthe young man who wants to follow only shows his shame, since the linen cloth thrown around him is no part of his real clothing — taking it as a symbol. Anyone who follows in nature's own strength will only show his own shame and lose the righteousness he seemed to have.
The word Mark uses for the cloth is often taken for nightwear. It appears once more in the New Testament:
Numerical Bible NotesIt seems significant that the sindon, though usually called a nightdress, was the kind of wrapper people used to wrap the dead. In the only other place it appears in the New Testament, it is the cloth the Lord's body was wrapped in (Matt. 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53).
Why the scene belongs here
This flight is not there for its own sake. It deepens the picture of the One left alone.
J. G. BellettBut this figure only deepens our sense of bleakness and loneliness. It fits the sight we are given here of that ever blessed One, Who during this hour was lonely and forsaken, exposed and humbled, as the Servant of the glory of God in the redemption of sinners.
Summary
- Followed — He stayed near Christ when the rest had run. His was a real and brave try.
- Seized — One grab was enough. Without the Spirit's power, the deeper you go into danger, the worse the escape.
- Stripped — The cloth was never really his. Follow in your own strength and you lose the covering you seemed to have.
- Recorded — Only Mark keeps this small scene. Nothing is too ordinary for the Holy Spirit to use, and we need no name to feel its weight.
- Alone — Each one who runs sharpens the picture: the Servant left forsaken and exposed. In Christ alone we stand.