ID, Please?

There’s an unusual pair of verses in Scripture that occurs only in the book of Mark. While Jesus is being arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, this strange event is recorded:

“There was a young man following him who was covered by nothing but a linen cloth. As they seized him, he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.” (Mk 14:51-52)

Traditionally, authorship of this Gospel is credited to John Mark, the now middle-aged attendant to an older Peter. Many commentators over the centuries have speculated that this follower of Jesus is actually a teenaged Mark himself. Thus the seemingly insignificant incident takes on meaning as the author is stating, “This was me! I was there!”

But according to 19th century novelist Lew Wallace, this man is none other than – Judah Ben-Hur, the vengeful charioteer most famously portrayed by Charleton Heston. (See Ben-Hur, Book VIII, Chapter VIII.)

Hmmmmmm.