Mark 14:48-52
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
And they all forsook him, and fled.
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: And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): The question has often been asked, “Who was the ‘certain young man,’ mentioned at the end of this passage, on whom the young men laid hold, and who fled away naked?”
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Some think this was John, the beloved disciple, and the youngest of the disciples.
J. C. RYLE: This is the view of Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Gregory.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): How some persons have come to dream that this was John I know not, nor is it of much importance to inquire.
JOHN GILL: Others think that it was James, the brother of our Lord.
J. C. RYLE: This is the view of Epiphanius and Jerome. But it could be neither John or James, nor any other of the twelve, because it is said immediately before that, “they all fled,” upon the taking of our Saviour, whereas this young man followed our Saviour at this time.
JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): It does not appear that he was one of Christ’s disciples. The young men laid hold on him, who was only suspected to be Christ’s disciple: but could not touch them who really were so.
J. C. RYLE: Some think that it was the Evangelist Mark himself.
JOHN CALVIN: The chief point is to ascertain for what purpose Mark related this event.
THE EDITOR: Yes. And surely the Holy Spirit inspired Mark to record this event, because all “these things were written for our learning,” Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11. But it seems obvious to me that the starting point to learn anything of profit from this incident, necessarily must begin with whether or not this “certain young man” was Mark. Assuming that this young man wasn’t Mark, then the question is, “Alright then, what do we learn from this incident?
J. C. RYLE: Some have thought that it is related to show the real peril in which the disciples were, and to make it plain that they saved their lives only by their flight. Some have thought that the whole transaction exhibits the utter desertion of our Lord. Some have thought that Mark’s purpose in relating the event, is to show the cruelty, rage, and ferocity of those who took our Lord. They were ready to lay hands on any one who was any where near Him, and to make prisoners indiscriminately of all who even appeared to be connected with him.
JOHN CALVIN: I think that his object was, to inform us that those wicked men—as usually happens in riotous assemblies, stormed and raved without shame or modesty; which appeared from their seizing a young man who was unknown to them, and not suspected of any crime, so that he had difficulty in escaping out of their hands naked.
MATTHEW POOLE: Why Mark should record such a passage, unless it was to tell us what we must expect from the rage of persecutors?—that our own innocence should not defend us.
THE EDITOR: That’s it? We are to learn from this incident simply that persecutors rage, and they are so unreasonably indiscriminate in their fury, that they are dangerous even to innocent people? Wouldn’t all that be crystal clear from the other events of this chapter without recording this incident? No, there must be some other deeper reason for its inclusion.
JOHN GILL: Mark’s design in relating this incident is to show the rage and fury of these men, who were for sparing none that appeared to be or were thought to be the followers of Christ; so that the preservation of the disciples was entirely owing to the wonderful power of Christ.
THE EDITOR: But that lesson is completely plain without this event: when the mob arrived, Jesus asked “Whom seek ye?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. When Jesus answered, “I am,” immediately they went backward and fell to the ground. Then Christ asked them again, and receiving the same reply, He said, “I have told you that I am; if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.” And the Bible clearly tells us that this was said and done, “that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none,” John 18:4-9.
J. C. RYLE: Our Lord’s interference to secure the safety of His disciples at this crisis was a fulfillment in fact of His expression in prayer, “none of them is lost,” John 17:12.
THE EDITOR: And there are other pertinent questions about this incident that still need to be answered. If this wasn’t Mark, then how did this unknown young man come to be in the Garden of Gethsemane so late at night? And why was he naked but for a linen cloth around him?
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): He might be one well affected to Christ, who, hearing the noise, came to see the news, and hardly escaped with the skin of his teeth.
J. C. RYLE: It is more likely that it was some good young man, who dwelt near the garden of Gethsemane, who hearing the noise and stir that was made about the taking and binding of our Saviour, did arise suddenly out of his bed to see what was the matter, and perceiving that they had cruelly taken and bound our Saviour, and were leading Him away, did follow after Him to see what would be done with Him, whereby it appears that he was a well-wisher to our Saviour.
MATTHEW POOLE: Who, being in his bed, and hearing the noise of the multitude going by his lodging with swords and staves, he got up, slipped on his night garment, and followed them, to see what the matter was; and they having apprehended Christ, he followed them.
THE EDITOR: So what is our edifying lesson to be from all that? If you hear men hurrying past your house late at night, and see they are carrying swords, staves, and torches—don’t throw a linen sheet over your naked body, and rush out into a dark garden to follow after them?
J. C. RYLE: No satisfactory answer to these questions has yet been given. The utmost that can be said of any of the explanations attempted, is, that they are conjectures and speculations.
HEINRICH BULLINGER (1504-1575): It does not interest us much to know who this young man was, and it would not bring any very great fruit to us, if we did know. If it had been useful and wholesome for us to know, the Spirit of God would not have been silent, seeing that He is often marvellously diligent in relating very minute things.
THE EDITOR: I disagree. It is not irrelevant. It’s true that the Holy Spirit is very diligent in recording details, and He always records them for a purpose. Perhaps He has inspired Mark to record this incident in this particular manner to cause us to search the Scriptures diligently to find out the answers. Next week, let’s do that searching and see what “very minute things” the Spirit of God has recorded for us. And then, if we can reasonably conclude that this young man was Mark, let’s follow that wherever it leads, and see what we can learn from it.
