Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

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Niemand
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Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by Niemand »

This is probably the most shamelessly clickbait title I've ever used on here...

... 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).
Image

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:
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.
An alternative version (New Living Translation)
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.
Obvious points here:
* 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:
However, 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.)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naked-yo ... _b_2959791

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:
[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.
The word sindon may be related to either Sidon or India.

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:
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.
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.

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

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cachemagic
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by cachemagic »

I remember it begin suggested that this man was participating in a temple initiation ritual (more like LDS ritual than anything in the Jewish temple). But I can't remember where I read this.

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Niemand
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by Niemand »

cachemagic wrote: January 30th, 2023, 11:07 am I remember it begin suggested that this man was participating in a temple initiation ritual (more like LDS ritual than anything in the Jewish temple). But I can't remember where I read this.
Some of the oldest baptisms took place naked probably because of the symbolism. The person about to be baptised would sometimes to symbolise their abandoning of their old life. I can't see this happening today!!! (Apparently this happened formerly if there was only one gender around.)
Image

Colossians 3
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
In the Gospel of Thomas 17, we read:
His disciples say to him: "On what day wilt thou appear to us, and what day shall we see thee?" Jesus says: "When you strip yourselves without being ashamed, when you take off your clothes and lay them at your feet like little children and trample on them! Then [you will become] children of Him who is living, and you will have no more fear."
I don't advocate the Gospel of Thomas as canonical but the reference to children is interesting, given we are told to be like children in the synoptic gospels. I'll take the nudity bit as figurative. Clothes are as much material possessions as wealth perhaps. So it is casting off that which holds us back.

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Ymarsakar
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by Ymarsakar »

Niemand wrote: January 30th, 2023, 2:09 pm
cachemagic wrote: January 30th, 2023, 11:07 am I remember it begin suggested that this man was participating in a temple initiation ritual (more like LDS ritual than anything in the Jewish temple). But I can't remember where I read this.
Some of the oldest baptisms took place naked probably because of the symbolism. The person about to be baptised would sometimes to symbolise their abandoning of their old life. I can't see this happening today!!! (Apparently this happened formerly if there was only one gender around.)
Image

Colossians 3
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
In the Gospel of Thomas 17, we read:
His disciples say to him: "On what day wilt thou appear to us, and what day shall we see thee?" Jesus says: "When you strip yourselves without being ashamed, when you take off your clothes and lay them at your feet like little children and trample on them! Then [you will become] children of Him who is living, and you will have no more fear."
I don't advocate the Gospel of Thomas as canonical but the reference to children is interesting, given we are told to be like children in the synoptic gospels. I'll take the nudity bit as figurative. Clothes are as much material possessions as wealth perhaps. So it is casting off that which holds us back.
The clothing blocks the sun from the cbakras.

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Niemand
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by Niemand »

Other underrated stories
I've done a series of posts on some Bible stories which don't garner a lot of attention. Here are eleven of them:
1 - Elisha and the Bears
viewtopic.php?t=69474

3 - Habakkuk's Hair-raising Experience
viewtopic.php?t=69509

4 - Simon of Cyrene
viewtopic.php?t=69537

5 - Lefty Kills Fatty
viewtopic.php?t=69569

6 - The Idol of Dagon Bows to the Real God
viewtopic.php?t=69574

7 - Jesus Breaks Up a Funeral
viewtopic.php?t=69681

8 - Hundreds Killed by Farm Implement
viewtopic.php?t=69697

9 - Peter Swims out to See Jesus
viewtopic.php?t=69720

10 - Lapping it up Like a Dog
viewtopic.php?t=70815

11 - Paul bores a Man to Death
viewtopic.php?t=71863

12 - Herod needs to be Wormed
viewtopic.php?t=73176

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Thinker
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #2: Getting naked with Jesus

Post by Thinker »

Niemand wrote: January 30th, 2023, 5:07 am This is probably the most shamelessly clickbait title I've ever used on here...

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.
The title definitely caught my attention. 😂

Maybe I’ve been reading too much about symbolism but generally I think it’s good to at least consider symbolic interpretations of spiritual teachings like this. I don’t see it as Jesus thinking it’s so important we know the historical trivial facts of his birth, his arrest etc… but rather it’s important we learn certain spiritual truths that may be best expressed through parables. “Without a parable spake he not unto them.”

Symbolic possible meaning:
naked:
“To dream that you are naked denotes fear of being found out and exposed over your activities. You feel that you are being misjudged.

To dream that you suddenly discover your nudity and are trying to cover up signifies your vulnerability to a situation.

To see a naked person in your dream and you are disgusted by it represents some anxiety about discovering the naked truth about that person or situation. It may also foretell of an illicit love affair, a loss of prestige or some scandalous activity. On the other hand, if you are accepting of someone else's nudity, then it implies that you can see right through them and their intentions. Or perhaps, you are completely accepting them for who they are. If you do not care about someone else's nudity, then it suggests that you need to learn not to be afraid of rejection.

To dream that everyone is naked except for you implies that there is something you are hiding from others. It may also mean that you are nervous about something. Alternatively, the dream indicates that you are being overly critical of others. Instead of being accepting, you tend to find flaws in others.”

http://m.dreammoods.com/site/dreammoods ... n.htm#2758

Nakedness is a focus in the Freemason temple ritual. Lucifer tells us “Look! You’re naked! Quick! Cover yourselves with aprons/garments!” So we obeyed Lucifer. Ok so that’s a side note.

The point is that nakedness is symbolic. There’s a symbolic reason for telling the story of a naked man. Maybe it represented part of Christ that felt to be made naked & wanted to flee but he didn’t, so his higher side chose. And maybe Christ represents the ideal or the way for us to go.

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