The naked man

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. (Mark 14:51-52)

The Gospel of Mark is the only book that makes this mysterious remark about the naked man. As we know, back in the days to write was a lot of work. First off, there was no paper and no pen as we have today. In order to register something in writing, it should be to the point, and it’d be better be important. That is to tell us that any piece of additional information made its way into the Scriptures for a divine reason. The naked man is one of those sentences that can easily be overlooked but it tells us so much about the power of Mashiach!

Now, to give some context, the episode happens in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Yahusha (Jesus) is saying his final prayers with his disciples. He is grieving not over death, but over the fact that he will have to carry the burden of all our sins. It will not be easy. To top it off, he also knows that one of his trusted 12 disciples will betray him and the remaining 11 will run for their lives out of fear.

As Judas comes to identify Yahusha with a kiss, we are told in the Gospel of John that when the guards arrived Yahusha asked them who they were looking for. The guards already knew who he was, Judas identified him. Yahusha also knew that they were looking for him. But the dialog between them is present in the Gospel to show us something else:

Yahusha therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

They answered Him, “Yahusha of Nazareth.” Yahusha said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:4-6)

‘I AM’

To understand how powerful this sentence is, we should go back to Exodus. ‘I AM’ is the Name our Creator gives Moses. Yahuah, which means ‘I AM’ is His Name!

Then Moses said to Yahuah, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

And Yahuah said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover Yahuah said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ (Exodus 3:13-15)

Now we must understand that His Name, or HaShem in Hebrew, is powerful. To call on Yahuah, in the name of Yahusha is a tremendous weapon for all believers. When Yahusha himself tells the guards ‘I AM’, the power is so strong that the guards fell on the ground! But that’s not the only thing that happened when Yahusha said ‘I AM’.

The Garden of Gethsemane was beside a cemetery, so the naked guy – who was covered in burial linen cloth – had recently passed away. The powerful sound of the Name brought him back to life and he went to follow Yahusha! So the naked man is brought back to life, in his burial cloth and when the guards try to grab him he flees naked. No further mention is found about him.

So who is the naked man?

The naked man is all the elect. He represents us, receiving Yahusha’s life when we are spiritually dead. When we hear the Word, faith is given by the Father and we come to life, naked of sins. Let’s not forget that it is prophesised that when Yahusha comes back from Heaven, the dead will be brought back to life.

Yahusha's seven 'I AM' statements

I AM the bread of life

I AM the light of the World

I AM the door

I AM the good Shepherd

I AM the resurrection and the life

I AM the way, the truth and the life

I AM the true vine

The religious leaders of Judea understood what he meant. Yahusha was clearly stating that he was Yahuah. In our limited timeline on this realm, it's impossible to understand the meaning of 'I AM'. 'I AM' is eternal, impossible to describe and impossible to limit to any of our senses. One can ask: 'but 'I am' what? 'I AM' the one that makes things be, the one that makes things cease to be, etc. We can write sentences forever and we still can't get even close to what 'I AM' is.

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Yahusha said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:57-58)