Mark 14:51-52 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.

It is okay to say I don’t know.

Who is this young man? Why was he naked under a sheet? What was he doing at the scene of Christ’s capture? Why is Mark bringing up this young fellow at all?

The days reading about the events leading up to Christ capture are full of detail, suspense, and drama. Many teachings have surrounded these verses of scripture. Much can be learned and the events of the hour render valuable lessons about Christ, His apostles and our efforts to follow Jesus.

You will have to go out of your way to find much of any commentary surrounding this young man. Most teachers do not want to touch the subject because there is no supporting scriptures to balance our thoughts on the matter.

Much of what we study in the bible has supporting evidence in either the Old Testament or in other gospels or epistles. We can only say for sure those things which the bible itself supports. On any important issue you will always find the bible explaining itself. Where these little tales are found, and others like them, nothing but speculation can explain who, why, and what. Speculation is a self-seeking satisfaction. It makes us feel good to be in the know.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

We need only to answer for the hope we have in Christ. We do not need to know the answer to every inane query that might arise. We might dwell on it for a time. We might hypothesize an answer but it is best kept to self so no one will think it doctrine.

Doctrine is supported by the scriptures, truth built upon truth. Doctrine does not leave suspicion in the mind.

Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

I play chess and sometimes I think of things in chess terms. The chief priests and scribes wanted to be crafty and force Christ into a position where he could be put to death and seem blameless. In chess a crafty player will try and force the opponents king to make moves to avoid checkmate.

Here in His last days, Jesus sees the whole board, understands how things will play out, and knows exactly how and when His death would come. He knew the end from the beginning, it was for this reason Jesus was born.

Verse 10 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

Seems like Judas is a major player in the game but he is nothing more than a pawn. Pawns can be powerful if used properly but as in all things chess, they are expendable and easily discarded. We all knows his end.

Pawns have no agenda of their own but as humans we want to understand why Judas did this and we look to every hint of why he betrayed Jesus and when. Timing can be just important as the actual move. So why at this time? No one can know the heart of another unless you are God. So the timing was one where the ointment of spikenard had been poured over His head and He announced His own death was coming soon.

We don’t know how long Judas had been thinking along these lines but this announcement might have forced Judas into acting in the moment before it was too late for his personal plans to come into play. Why doesn’t matter anymore once the move has been made.

I’ve made moves I’ve regretted because things didn’t pan out as I had planned. Judas isn’t alone in that aspect. My motives matter not, it is done and there is no taking it back.