Why Was Jesus With a Naked Man?

Why Was Jesus With a Naked Man?

In the Gospel of Mark, we get a rather interesting story that is commonly misread to claim Jesus was a term I would never use in a sentence with our Lord except if he was condemning them. Based on the title, one can assume what sort of absurd claims are thrown his way. The verses in question are the following, "And there followed him(i.e. Jesus) a certain young man(some believe to be John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark), having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men(i.e. soldiers) laid hold on him(i.e. young man): And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked," (Mark 14:51-52 KJV).

This verse certainly seems a bit confusing, some even claim it proves Jesus was an intercoursal deviant; however, this is a gross misreading. Firstly, the context. Jesus and his disciples are speaking(Mark 14:41-42) and Judas Iscariot(the apostle) came to Jesus with a group of people with swords and staves(Mark 14:43). The soldiers try to take Jesus after Judas shows who Jesus is(Mark 14:44-46), this is when Peter(also called Cephas and Simon) drew his sword and cut off a man's ear(Mark 14:47). Jesus tells his disciples he must go to fulfill the scripture, so they fled(Mark 14:49-52). This is where we then get to the verses in question, soldiers grabbed the young man's cloth and it seems perhaps his clothes were ripped or maybe fell off in his escape, either way, he was running without it(Mark 14:51-52). This verse only sounds bad when read completely out of all context.