Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.
Mark: 14: 51-52
Saint of the Day Quote: Saint Mark
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Named after this writer of the Holy Gospel. He has helped me no end over six and a half decades. Thanks.
What is the significance of this story and how did we come to see him as Mark?
It’s the kind of superfluous detail that the author would only include if he were the young man who ran right out of his loin cloth, he was so scared, would be my guess.
I lean to this interpretation. Mark had not wanted to accompany Saint Paul on one of his missionary journeys, and I think he was giving a warts and all account of his youthful cowardice. Scholars are all over the place on this. but most conclude that it was probably either Saint Mark or Saint John.
I prefer that it was St. John. Remember that Mark accopanied St. Peter for much of his ministry, and got the details of his gospel from Peter. Was Mark even a disciple of Jesus by then, or did he become a disciple after Pentecost? Remember, Jesus took only some of His closest to be with Him at the garden of Gethsemene.
I tend to St. John. Remember that Jesus took only the closest to the garden of Gethsemene. Was Mark even a disciple of Jesus at that time, or did he become a disciple after Pentecost? He was certainly with St. Peter on many of his journeys and in Rome with Peter, and gained his knowledge from Peter. One could say that he was the scribe for St. Peter.
Oops – double post. The delay caused me to think that my first comment didn’t make it for some reason, so I re-posted. 🙂
It’s not unreasonable to believe that if Mark were merely reporting Peter’s recollection of that night, he would have named John, if the young man in question was John.
Mark may have been a disciple, or a part of the crowd that Jesus attracted wherever he went, or just one of the many, many pilgrims to Jerusalem for Passover. If the last possibility is the correct one, then this was the moment of personal encounter with Jesus when Mark became a follower. Simon of Cyrene offers a parallel.
I think the young man was Mark (John, if we trust his account, actually witnessed Jesus’s trial before the Sanhedrin). In my imagination, Mark was the son of the owner of the house where the Last Supper was held. I don’t know what the deal was between Mark and Paul, but Mark at some point became the Secretary to Saint Peter, and his Gospel reads like Peter’s memoirs.