Naked ...

Mark 14

January 24, 2013

Naked …

There are so many directions we could go with this chapter that begins with the anointing of Jesus by an unnamed woman and ends with Peter weeping after hearing a rooster crow upon his third denial.  There’s so much to think about and pray about in these 72 verses. 

But I found my mind focusing on verses 51 and 52, where we read about an unidentified person.  Compared to the others, this one seems oddly out of place. The Bible simply says: A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”

What’s this all about?  I mean, even though the woman who anointed Jesus in Bethany is not given a name in this Gospel’s account, her inclusion because of her “beautiful thing” she did and Jesus own directive, makes her part of the story a vital link.  But what about a young man who ends up running away in his boxers?  Why him?

If you’ll do a little research, you’ll discover that this incident of the young man only shows up in one of the four Gospels – obviously this one. And furthermore, because of that fact, most who write commentaries and study Bible notes believe that this young man had a name.  And that name happened to be John Mark.  Yes, the very same Mark who undertook the writing of a Gospel about “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)

But what sticks in mind about these two verses is more than this Gospel writer humbly including his less than stellar moment on the night of Jesus’ betrayal.  It is the word “naked.”  I know, the very word “naked” is enough to illicit whispers and laughter among teenage boys trying hard to become men.  But let’s move beyond the juvenile. 

I can’t think of any better term to describe a humiliated John Mark, who has enough nerve to follow close behind the arresting party, but whose courage leaves one step faster than his clothing does when they turn to seize him as well.  His fear is left naked on display for all the world to see.

But he’s not the only one. We see it in the beginning of the chapter when the love of a woman for Jesus is laid bare in her anointing Him for His death.  Face it - Judas poses for a centerfold of greed.  And Peter’s garments quickly hit the floor as his bold intentions, give way to three denials.  The rooster crows and his un-Photoshopped image is burned into our minds.  He doesn’t get airbrushed.  He’s naked and weeping.

So where do we land on this whole “naked” thing?  Do we really think these two verses are only meant to give us a clever hint about the author’s identity? Hardly!  There’s something about this chapter that moves us past all the outward style we use to cover ourselves and make ourselves.  But these seventy-two verses reach out and we are no longer decent.  We stand before our Creator and Redeemer – as my grandfather would say – “naked as a jaybird.”  But when that happens, the Good News is that Jesus has entered the world, took the cross, and now lives to cloth us with His garments of righteousness instead.  But I’m getting ahead of the story.