The naked fugitive (or naked runaway or naked youth) is an unidentified figure mentioned briefly in the Gospel of Mark, immediately after the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and the fleeing of all his disciples:
A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.[1]
The parallel accounts in the other canonical Gospels make no mention of this incident.
The wearing of a single cloth (Greek: σινδόνα, sindona) would not have been indecent or extraordinary, and there are many ancient accounts of how easily such garments would come loose, especially with sudden movements.[2]
Identity
Since ancient times, many have speculated on the identity of this young man, proposing:
- Simply someone else who happened to be there.
- James the Just[3]
- The Beloved Disciple (John)[4][5]
- Mark himself[6]
- Lazarus of Bethany[7]
- An antitype of Joseph[8]
A later verse in Mark, "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe,"[9] is often connected to the passage by allegorical readers (of the "symbolism school", in the words of Howard M. Jackson.[10]
The naked fugitive has been speculated to originate in a possible Passion narrative that pre-dates the gospel of Mark. In such an early document, anonymity of the fugitive may protect this individual from official persecution.[11]: Note 8 [2]: 184