In Mark 14:51-52, something really strange happened when Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.

This is the night that Jesus was put on trial, and the next day He was nailed to the cross. It’s a heavy section of scripture with a lot going on, and there’s one detail that’s only recorded in one of the four Gospels:

Mark 14:51-52 – And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

An Extraneous Detail?

Then the story continues on without further comment; you could have removed this comment about the man who ran away naked and, seemingly, nothing of value to the narrative would have been lost. Read the full context for yourself, and you will see the randomness of verses 51 and 52 to the story.

In fact, the ESV Study Bible even puts these two verses in their own independent section under the heading “A Young Man Flees.” That’s how extraneous this detail feels.

There is no elaboration given. There is no follow-up. It just appears out of nowhere, we all get a chance to feel awkward about it for a while, and then it disappears without any explanation. (Kind of like Monkeypox. What was up with that anyway?)

So why is this particular detail included? It’s hard to say with certainty, but here are a few theories for your consideration.

Theory 1 – simply a historical detail

Perhaps the Bible simply means exactly what it says it means. It’s such an odd detail that some try to spiritualize it away and say it’s simply symbolic language. 

New Testament scholar Joel Marcus, in his work on Mark, considers the young man to be a symbolic representation of the disciples’ abandonment and the consequences of following Jesus. He says that nakedness represents shame, and that the Bible describes a man running away naked to describe how pathetic it was that the disciples would abandon Jesus at such a critical moment. In other words, that this detail is so random that it likely did not literally happen but merely symbolizes shame.

However, explanations like that do not interpret the Bible as it is written. This is not a dream or vision; this is a historical record. These details all literally happened, even if they seem quite random and strange.

In fact, the Gospels are full of little details that don’t always contribute to the ongoing narrative, but they’re there because they’re kind of interesting or simply because that’s what stuck out in the memory of whoever was telling the story. This is not something unique to Mark; this is one of the hallmarks of eyewitness testimony in all four Gospels.

So perhaps this detail is here simply because it happened.

Theory 2 – It was Mark himself

Here’s a fun theory that shows up in a lot of commentaries: perhaps this is Mark himself, the author of this book, including his appearance in the story.

We don’t know when Mark became a follower of Jesus. Perhaps if he had interactions with Jesus prior to the cross, this was a moment right here where his life intersected with an important moment in the story of Jesus. As Tony Evans says in his commentary:

There isn’t much explanation given beyond that, but this seems to be the most frequently cited theory by the commentaries.

It explains why Mark mentioned it; it doesn’t explain why he was naked and wrapped upon a sheet. But a third theory does:

Theory 3 – a miracle

This third theory examines the detail of the sheet (or linen cloth).

The word for linen cloth here in the Greek is sindon (sin-done). Here is the definition of that word in a Greek dictionary: linen cloth, esp. that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped.

This is the same Greek word used, for instance, where it speaks of the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimethea. 

Matthew 27:59 – And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud…

The word sindon only appears three other times in the New Testament, and every time it shows up, it refers to burial cloths. 

Now, here is where it really gets weird. Why would a man present at the arrest of Jesus be wrapped in burial cloths? 

When you take several eyewitness accounts and start layering them on top of the other- like the four Gospels- you can start to piece together the timeline in ways that you might not catch if you just heard from one of the witnesses. Here’s a detail from John’s account.

John 18:3-6 – So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

When Jesus said “I am he” (technically, it was just “I am” in the Greek), there was such a release of spiritual power that these 600 men were knocked to the ground.

The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was arrested, is located at the bottom of the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives was a major burial site for the Jews. It had tombs and graves all over it because it was outside of the city of Jerusalem- and they didn’t want to have tombs inside city limits.

Here’s an idea that is pure speculation, but it does make sense of some of these details. When Jesus was approached by these men to be arrested and said “I am” and released that power, perhaps there was a grave nearby where a young man had just been buried in the linen cloth. Perhaps that release of power from Jesus’ mouth- that power that can knock hundreds of soldiers off their feet- caused this dead man to open his eyes and get out of that grave. 

He stumbles out still in his grave clothes, because that would have been all he had on. He would be naked other than a linen sheet. He’s confused about where he is. All he knows is that he heard someone say, “I am,” and he woke up. He looks over and sees Jesus picking up a guy’s ear and reattaching it to his head. He joins this crowd to understand what was happening. 

Suddenly they’re arresting this miracle-worker, and all of His buddies start running off. One of the soldiers grabs him by the only garment he’s wearing, so he wiggles out of them and runs off into the night stark naked. 

Theory 4 – All of them together

And here’s a fourth theory- again, just for fun. It’s possible that all three of these theories are correct. That this is a historical detail that was mentioned here only because Peter actually saw it, and it actually happened, even if he didn’t quite understand what was going on in the moment. Jesus released that power and rose someone from the dead right as He was about to head to his own death. And this man in the linen cloth who came back to life was John Mark himself who wrote the second Gospel in your New Testament. 

Do you have another theory? Send it to us through the Contact page.

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