"A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind."
Once again, an anonymous person. He, however, must have some importance to merit a mention in the gospel. Who was he?Why did he have only a linen garment (in NLT, a long linen shirt)? Why no cloak, considering it might have been chilly at night?
Maybe he was about to rest for the night when he saw the group going towards Gethsemane. Maybe he wanted just to see this Jesus who was so popular. So he ran out of his house and in his haste that he forgot to put on his cloak.
But his curiosity turned awry. What he thought was just a curious crowd following Jesus was actually an angry armed mob (most likely hyped up by the Pharisees) that had set out to arrest Jesus. SIDE NOTE: The chief priests, teachers of the law and elders were such cowards for sending a mob to arrest Jesus 1) at night 2) in an isolated place 3) armed with swords and clubs.
The disciples ALL fled and deserted him, thinking that they too will be arrested. Maybe the mob wanted to arrest them but, because they all had fled, they pounced on the poor young man. A case of mistaken identity? A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In his fear, he did everything he could do to escape, even getting out of his garment and flee naked.
What lesson can we learn from this young man? I'm still mulling on this one.
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