... It's also a topic which is going to get scant attention in any LDS Sunday School class.
In the lesser known Bible story thread I quoted someone who mentioned:
The streaker at the arrest and betrayal of Jesus. Look it up. It's in Mark's Gospel.
(viewtopic.php?t=69006).
In a church traditionally obsessed with the "armour of God", temple garments to cover up nakedness and "modesty", it is obvious why a gospel story about nudity would slip through the net. I doubt most Mormons even remember this one.
Let's look it up. Mark 14:48-52:
An alternative version (New Living Translation)And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled." And they all forsook him, and fled.
And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
Obvious points here:Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”
Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.
* Jesus is betrayed and taken away.
* It happens very quickly. The young man has to rush away without clothing.
* Everyone abandons Jesus before his crucifixion, including this young man who has to slip away naked.
* The young man's betrayal mirrors that of Peter who denies Christ three times later in the story. Both are let down by cowardice.
Many people have asked why this little incident is included in the Gospel of Mark. Some say this is Mark's self-reference, as a way of saying "I was there too." None of the other gospels bother mentioning it. Some also say it is a reference to a rich man and other figures.
The Huffington Post (of all places!) offers a couple of insights:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naked-yo ... _b_2959791However, I believe, in looking closely at some Greek words, that Mark's intention as a Gospel writer, showing that this man dressed in a white robe had a secret message -- a prevalent theme in Mark of the rebirth of humanity that was naked in sin.
Mark describes the young man in question as a neaniskos, meaning he was in the prime of his life, perhaps 15 to 25 years old. The verb that is used, sunékolouthei, means "was following as a disciple" or "was accompanying." Since no one evinces any surprise at the young man's presence, he was probably a disciple.
(Fascinatingly, the word neaniskos, which is rare in the Christian Testament, crops up a second time in Mark, to describe the young man in the long white robe who tells the women disciples that Jesus has been raised and they will see him again in Galilee.)
The author Rev. William E. Flippin (sic) Jr. seems to be a bit of a woke idiot, from what I can tell elsewhere, but he does offer useful tips about the language used.
Since the incident takes places in the Garden of Gethsemane it is partly a reversal of the Eden narrative. In this version, the Second Adam is taken away to pay for sin, and a young man goes from being clothed to naked. Another Edenic interpretation is that the man becomes ashamed of his nakedness as Adam was after his sin. The removal of the clothing can also be taken to symbolise the removal of the young man's worldliness, and his exposure to the world as a Christian or a "fool for Christ" (1 Corinthians 4.10). Some people also translate the "garment" as a "bedsheet", suggesting a kind of awakening.
But there is also a connection with Christ's burial. The garment is known as a "sindon". Flippin (sic) mentions:
The word sindon may be related to either Sidon or India.[A] big discovery I stumbled over by accident: A sindon was a linen cloth used for clothing or burial. The word is used exactly four times in the Christian Testament: in the three synoptic gospels to describe the cloth in which Jesus' dead body was wrapped for burial... and here.
He goes on to mention that Mark's gospel makes frequent note of clothing, e.g. John the Baptist's (Mark 1:6), the High Priest tearing his (Mark 14:30), and the radiance of Christ's clothing during the Transfiguration (Mark 9:3).
Again, not only is this a strange story but the sources giving insights are unexpected. I am no fan of the NIV as some may know, but the Zondervan commentary to the NIV notes:
Sone suggests this hints at the rich young man mentioned in Mark 10 (and Matthew 19:20) who was told to leave all his possessions behind and follow Jesus. Some traditions link the figure to Barnabas (Barnaby). However, the text alone doesn't provide enough evidence.Ordinarily men wore an undergarment, but this young man had only an outer garment, made of linen, an expensive material worn only by the rich. He fled naked. The forsakenness of Jesus was total; even this youth forsook him.
Other suspects include:
* Lazarus, maybe explained by the grave cloth reference.
* Simon of Bethany
Both of these men lived in the vicinity of Gethsemane. One or two commentators suggest that the man was roused of out of his sleep and came rushing out of his bed at home, rather than being one of the people who waited with Jesus himself in the garden.
The young man's nakedness can also be seen as his shame at having betrayed Jesus.
I've been unable to find any specific LDS commentary on this incident, but if anyone can that would be appreciated. Come Follow Me will be studying the chapter in May of this year. No mention of this incident at all
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... 3?lang=eng