Who was this?

[rug]

From today's Gospel, Mark 14:51-52

51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,
52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

[KatyMan]

1. How funny,

I had that exact same thought at Mass today, wondering why the author added it in. Such a strange detail.

[rug]

2. Yes, odd isn't it?

Reminds me of that detail where Jesus writes in the sand before saying "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." What was he writing?

[47of74]

3. The deacon at church said during his homily...

The deacon at church said during his homily yesterday that the young man was a disciple of Jesus who had come to Jesus wearing a baptismal garment, and that he had come prepared to follow Jesus even if it cost this young man his life. But when the moment came for this young man to put his money where his mouth was this young man failed to follow through, and the abandonment of the garment signified the young man abandoning Christ.

[rug]

4. I hadn't heard that. I wonder what the deacon's source is.

[hedgehog]

5. I have the impression it was supposed to be Mark himself,

but I have no back-up for that opinion.

Recognizing that the Gospels were assembled 40 years after the event and edited to reflect particular view points, the Passion stories have always struck me as being startingly modern in composition. We keep getting flashes of incidents such as this one which seem to be first person accounts. The narrative reminds me of stories collected after modern disasters.

[nxylas]

6. There's a traditional belief that Mark was talking about himself

Not sure whether there's any truth in it. If it was Mark, why didn't he identify himself?

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Well, maybe its the "strange detail" that suggests it was him. John spoke of himself in

the third person in his Gospel, on one occasion, didn't he? In fact, to relate another strange detail: that Peter ran into the, by then, empty tomb, whole the other disciple hesitated and then went in.

It gives the impression that the garment was ripped off him when he ran away, doesn't it?