Who Was the Naked Young Man in Mark 14:51-52?

[InTheLight]

Judas had just betrayed Jesus and as prophesied, all the disciples fled. But in Mark 14 we read of a young man that was still following Jesus:

50 Then they all forsook Him and fled.

51 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him,

52 and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

We know that it was somewhat chilly out at this time because when Peter denies Christ he is standing next to a fire made of coals "for it was cold" John 18:18.

It seems to me that this young man was not very well prepared for the weather, having only a piece of linen cloth about him. I envision the equivalent of a bed sheet. And he surely didn't want to be apprehended by the Jewish elders as he fled the scene naked.

So who was this guy?

 

[Grasshopper]

Many think it was Mark, but can't know for sure.

 

[Scarlett O.]

I don't know, but here is what David Guzik says and he even quotes a few others' opinions in his own commentary.
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"Now a certain young man followed Him . . . and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked": Jesus is forsaken even by a young follower, who in the confusion fled naked. Since the earliest days of the church, commentators have supposed this young man to be Mark himself. It was his humble way of saying, "I was there."

i. Many people suppose that the upper room where Jesus held the last supper just a few hours earlier was at a home owned by Mark's family. Acts 12:12 says that the disciples used to meet at the home of Mark's mother. It may be that the arresting army led by Judas first came to Mark's home, because that is where Judas last left Jesus. When Judas and the group came and found them gone, it would have been easy for Judas to suppose that they went to Gethsemane, because Jesus was accustomed to going there (Luke 22:39). When the Judas and the group started out for Gethsemane, we can imagine that young Mark hurriedly dressed in a simple linen cloth and set out to beat Judas and his gang to Gethsemane so he could warn Jesus. (Guzik)

ii. "It is usually supposed that Mark himself, son of Mary (Acts 12:12) in whose house they probably had observed the Passover meal, had followed Jesus and the apostles to the Garden." (Robertson)

iii. Lane writes that Mark recorded this "To emphasize the fact that all fled, leaving Jesus alone in the custody of the police. No one remained with Jesus, not even a valiant young man who intended to follow him."

iv. "The modest spirit of Mark seemed to say, 'Friend Peter, while the Holy Ghost moves me to, tell thy fault, and let it stand on record, he also constrains me to write my own as a sort of preface to it, for I, too, in my mad, hare-brained folly, would have run, unclothed as I was, upon the guard to rescue my Lord and Master; yet, at the first sight, of the rough legionaries, at the first gleam of their swords, away I fled, timid, faint-hearted, and afraid that I should be too roughly handled.'" (Spurgeon)

 

[InTheLight]

I don't think it was Mark. Because he was wearing only a linen cloth, this person wasn't prepared to be outside. Wouldn't Mark have been dressed for the weather? The disciples had been sleeping while Jesus was praying in the Garden so I can't buy the theory that a naked Mark grabbed a linen sheet and hastily ran out of the house to warn Jesus.