MARK 14:51-52

Q: Why is this unusual story included in the Bible? It must have some hidden meaning that I can't figure out.

This strange account of an anonymous young man who loses his clothes while escaping is found only in Mark's Gospel. It is obscure for at least two reasons:

1. It doesn't seem to convey any useful historical or theological purpose that would warrant its inclusion, especially in such a stripped-down gospel as Mark's.

2. Jesus and his apostles had come from the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane alone and it was night time. So where did this follower come from?

One possibility was that the young man was John Mark himself, as others have proposed. There are several lines of reasoning that lead to this possibility, but it must be admitted that it is only speculation based on circumstantial evidence.

Consider John's Gospel, for example. Even though John himself figured in most of the events that took place during Jesus' ministry, neither John's name nor that of his brother James is found in his Gospel account. Most scholars believe that John is obviously the anonymous Beloved Disciple who appears only in John's narrative. Although it has been felt that this would have been bragging on John's part to call himself that, the opposite is probably true – out of modesty, he did not want to call attention to himself by name.

So here in Mark's Gospel we have another anonymous follower, who could again be the author of the account in which he is featured. But the reason for inclusion might have been different in this case. It could simply be a subtle way for the author to insert himself into his own story. This would be the equivalent of Alfred Hitchcock's practice of using himself as an anonymous bit player in the movies he directed.

Or there may have been a deeper motive. These two verses certainly don't cast the young man in a favorable light at all. When Mark sat down to write his account, he may have reflected on his own repeated pattern of fleeing whenever things got too rough (read Acts 15:37-38). His including this embarrassing account of his desertion may have been one way for him to demonstrate his recognition of, and repentance for, past failures.

So far I have attempted to deal with the question involving the reason for these verses in the first place, but what about the second, and greater, problem? How can we possibly place the John Mark who figures in the Book of Acts at the night scene of the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane? It is actually quite easy to do so by piecing together two events found in the New Testament.

In making arrangements for the Passover Meal with his disciples, Jesus gives secret instructions to Peter and John telling them how to locate the owner of the upper room where they will be meeting. It involves recognizing their contact man by the fact that he will be carrying a water jar. He would have been easy to identify since only women carried water in jars in those days. The need for secrecy was obvious since even Judas would not have known the location until it was too late to alert the authorities who were out to arrest Jesus.

This secrecy would also eliminate any danger to the owner of the house, who was probably a follower of Jesus. The likelihood of this last point can be seen from the historical fact that at Passover, Jerusalem was crowded with thousands of pilgrims who not only needed places to stay in town but somewhere to celebrate their Passover meal. Any type of lodging was at a premium at this time so Jesus must have had a lot of “pull” to carry it off (unless one simply wants to write it off as a miracle).

So what does this have to do with the problem verse? It demonstrates that whoever followed Jesus and the apostles out of the house and to the Garden of Gethsemane was most likely a member of the household where they held the Last Supper. The most logical candidate for the hosts of that meal and owners of the house were John Mark's parents since it is at their house in Jerusalem where we find the apostles hiding after Peter's imprisonment (Acts 12:12). This was probably also the same apostles' hiding place mentioned in John 20:19 and the upper room of Acts 1:13. If this dwelling was where Mark lived, then it would mean that he had first-hand contact with Jesus during one of the most crucial moments in his life, and with the apostles right before the Crucifixion.