50 And they all left Him and fled. 51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.
Message: The Fleeing Disciples
Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.
What the Lord is Saying:
Preface - Jesus is now being held captive by the chief priests and scribes and elders of the Jewish council. He has been betrayed by Judas and Judas did it with a kiss (seemingly of affection) and calling him Rabbi (teacher). Jesus had been praying in the garden of Gethsemane, anticipating his death, not looking forward to it and even asking that this Cup pass from him. The disciples were acting like they would always have his back, but when he asked them to watch while he prayed, they fell asleep. Jesus had said that one among them would betray Him, but everyone felt like it wasn't them. But, in fact he said that all would scatter, but at one point he would gather them together again.
And they all left Him and fled. Jesus is now alone. In some ways He has always been alone with the Father. No one stayed with Jesus instead they all went another way. Possibly, they feared their own life. None of them seemed to want this day to come. Every time Jesus spoke of His death, they didn't want to believe it and were at times angry that Jesus would be saying this. Now, as he is seized they flee. Jesus had predicted this in saying His sheep would scatter. Despite the disciples saying that they would always be by His side, in fact, they fled.
At this moment, they had been trying to trust Jesus, but they also did not now the entire story. They didn't know yet for sure about His resurrection, though He had told them it would happen. It is sad that they fled, but how often have a skirted away from sharing the truth of my relationship with God, thinking it wasn't the appropriate time or I too feared what people would think. There seemed to be a group of people not the elders and scribes that were with them to seize him or watch, so there seemed to be a crowd coming to see his demise but was there also a crowd there to come to his aid, it is not clear there was any or if they all fled. If I rely on my own strength then I will be one of those that runs away as well, but if I stop and trust in the Lord and stand firm in Him and look to Him for strength then I can be faithful.
Jesus has been captured. But Mark explains that there was someone else and as is often the case with Mark in his explanations he is not specific of who this young man was that was following Him (Jesus). But, Mark does state that he is a follower. In the process of seizing Jesus they seized him, this man, who some believe is Mark, the one who writes this narrative. This man was wearing a linen sheet over his naked body. But, as the leaders were seizing Jesus and then tried to seize this man he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked. Mark makes mention of the man's clothes and his nakedness to possibly explain the fact that all that he wanted to do was get away. And being naked didn't matter as long as he was not going to be seized as well. In this moment, are we fine with Jesus being seized, but we really don't want anything to happen to our safe and secure life and so if necessary, we will get away, even it means embarrassing ourselves as long as we remain free. And yet what we call free is really a continued bondage to the world.
What would the story have looked like if others had been seized along with Jesus? It remains an amazement to me to hear of people being martyred for their faith. Recently, there was a pastor that was killed in Cameroon after only being there for 2 months after spending years raising support to be there long term. There are many others that out of their boldness remained a follower. If others had stayed with Jesus and perhaps been crucified along with Jesus as His follower, what an interesting picture that would be. But instead what we have is people running away.
Summary - Jesus has been arrested under the cover of night. Jesus makes a point that in darkness is when he is seized, when he has been avaiable many times in the day light. He is taken at Gethsemane while he was praying. The Jewish leaders have seized him, thanks to Judas who has betrayed Jesus. After he is taken, all that were with Him, including the disciples, fled. They didn't remain by His side. They left and even when there was an attempt to seize one of them he escaped, even though it meant him being running off naked.
Promise: As Tabletalk states - The temptation to flee our Christian profession is strong when there is a real cost to our obedience, and if we trust in ourselves, we will fail. We need to ask the Lord for strength and grace to persevere under trial.
Prayer: O Lord, on my own I do not surrender to You and I am not proud of how I conduct towards others. On my own, I only look out for myself and what I think is best for me. Lord, as I navigate through life, help me Lord to surrender to You always and look to you for strength and perseverance. I admit Lord, I am too conditioned often to want the approval of people I can see versus you that I cannot see. Yet, Lord, your word is true and I want to stand close to You and be known by You. I want to pledge my allegiance to you and truly follow You in easy times and hard times.
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