He Left The Linen Cloth

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Hi W____,
Thank you for your question. Here is the verse you reference:

Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled.
Mar 14:51  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:
Mar 14:52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
Mar 14:53  And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.

It is generally accepted that Mark is speaking of himself, as it was common at that time for writers to speak of themselves in the third person.
Here is the significance of the ‘linen cloth about his naked body:”

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

“The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” but there was nothing righteous about ‘all of His disciples forsaking Him.’ They all, as do we all, “forsook Him,” and we have all “left the linen cloth.” The fact that this was “a young man” tells us that we are all “babes in Christ” when we all forsake Him and flee from His righteousness. It matters not how many physical clothes we may be wearing while we are denying God’s Words, we are at that moment spiritually “naked.” These are all “words proceeding out of the mouth of God,” which we all must live out and fulfill in our own lives:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The Greek reads “the afflictions of the Christ” showing that “as He is so are we in this world.”

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

For most people this will not be fulfilled in this life, but if it is not, then all will “live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God” and “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” when it is being lived out in a thing called the lake of fire. 
Here is the spiritual significance of that linen cloth:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

“The shame of our nakedness” appears when ever we leave behind our righteous and Godly linen cloths and flee from and deny our Lord as we succumb to our toddler status in Christ. The way we deny Christ today is to say that we do not need to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Those words are Christ, and when we say they are not applicable to us, then we will be ‘judged by our own words.’ Here is what we are told:

Rev 1:3  Blessed [ is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand.

There are few indeed who have been given eyes to see this verse of God’s Word. There are even fewer who have been given the measure of faith to “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book:”

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Here we have this admonition strategically placed at the very beginning and at the very end of this book called “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” But the revelation of Jesus Christ is not the book of Revelation alone. The revelation of Jesus Christ is what Paul also taught:

Gal 1:12  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ .

But the revelation of Jesus Christ is even more than the writings of Paul and John. According to Christ Himself, we are to keep ” every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God .

This is true because it takes the whole of God’s word to comprise Truth:

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.[ NASB]

When we deny that we “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book,” when we deny that we must live by every word which “proceeds out of the mouth of God,” we are denying Christ and we are “leaving our linen cloth” and leaving Christ behind to preserve our standing in our physical families, in our communities and in our churches. That is the significance of “leaving the linen cloth.”
There is a very good reason why Christ tells us so clearly:

 Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

The ability to “endure to the end” simply is not granted to the multitudes who come to Christ. But it is encouraging to know that, for those with whom God is working,  we are given these words:

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

… and this promise:

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I hope this answers your question about what is the significance of leaving the linen cloth, and I hope is of some help to you as you seek to understand “the things of the spirit.”

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Mike

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