Clothed In His Righteousness
Scripture References: 2 Timothy 3:16, Amos 2:6, 16, Mark 14:51-52, 15:46, 16:4-8, Galatians 2:20
Introduction:
“If it’s weird, it’s probably important”
This quote is one of my favorites when it comes to studying the Bible. I first heard this from the late Dr. Michael Heiser, who was an Old Testament professor and Scholar-in-residence at Logos Bible Software. What he meant by this, is as we read our Bible, we are inevitably going to come across things that seem ‘weird’ or confusing to us. When we come across a verse or passage like this, we have a couple options…
Option 1 is to say ‘Hmm…this is weird. I don’t understand what’s going on here…let’s just forget it and move on!’.
Option 2 is to say ‘Hmm…this is weird…but God saw it was important enough to give these words to the author as His inspired Word…I should probably see if I can find what this is all about!’
I like to go with Option 2. Why? I think Timothy says it best:
16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” – 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
It might be easier to gloss over parts of the Bible that are weird or confusing, but in doing so we are missing out on teaching breathed out by the God of the universe. Why am I choosing to bring this up on Easter of all weekends? Let’s talk about that..
Devotional:
As we read through the gospel accounts leading up to Jesus’ arrest, death and resurrection…we come across a unique passage in the gospel of Mark. The scene comes in chapter 14 as Jesus is being arrested. Judas betrays Jesus and the disciples fall away and flee the scene. Then we read this…
51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. -Mark 14:51-52 ESV
That’s it…the next scene is Jesus being brought before the High Priest. Mark is the only gospel writer who adds this seemingly odd detail about this ‘young man’ who leaves his linen cloth and runs away naked. What is Mark’s reason for including this detail?
Many commentators suggest that perhaps this ‘young man’ is the author, John Mark himself and that he is inserting himself into the story in this way. Possible…but this is of course speculative since we are not told explicitly that this is Mark.
Other commentators point to prophetic fulfillment, particularly from the book of Amos as judgment is being pronounced on Israel…
16
“and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.” -Amos 2:16 ESV
This certainly could be a plausible explanation, especially considering earlier in that same passage we read:
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals -Amos 2:6 ESV
The wording about ‘selling the righteous for Silver’ in context of Israel’s sin possibly being alluded to by Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in exchange for silver. This prophetic connection in and of itself is very interesting to consider…but there may be even more that Mark is developing here.
Since this ‘young man’ is not named, perhaps the identity of the person is not what we should be focused on. In addition to prophetic fulfillment, perhaps Mark has another reason for making this character anonymous.
I think back to a conversation I had with Adam Deering recently. We talked about how we may run across confusing content in the Bible, but that we often will find answers if we just keep on reading! So let’s keep on reading and see what we find!
In this case, If we look at the broader narrative of Mark’s account…we find some interesting clues as to what Mark is up to. These clues focus on 2 key terms: ‘Young man’ (greek: neaniskos)1 and ‘linen cloth’ (greek: sindon)2..which also can be translated into English as ‘linen sheet’ or ‘linen shroud’.
Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla (Dallas Theological Seminary) writing for DTS Voice comments:
“What is interesting in this cryptic story is that there is only one other instance of the Greek word for “linen cloth” in Mark’s Gospel—in reference to the burial shroud of Jesus (15:46). There, as with the story of our naked runaway, the word occurs twice.”3
The passage referenced above after Jesus is crucified reads:
46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud (greek: sindon), and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud (greek: sindon) and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. -Mark 15:46 ESV
So we have the only 2 occurrences in Mark of the greek word: sindon appearing as the linen cloth which is left behind by the young man who flees away naked in 14:51-52 and then the linen shroud which Jesus was wrapped in for burial in 15:46. Let’s hold that thought for a moment while we look at our other key term, ‘Young man’.
The greek word translated as ‘young man’ (neaniskos) is also a rare term in Mark’s gospel. In fact, It also only appears one other time. We find it, interestingly enough, in the resurrection account. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bring spices to the tomb of Jesus…
4 “And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man (Greek: neaniskos) sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” -Mark 16:4-8 ESV
Now, we have the only 2 occurrences in Mark of the greek word: neaniskos. First appearing as the ‘young man’ who fled away naked in fear and shame…now as a ‘young man’ announcing the resurrection of Jesus…but this time he is ‘dressed in a white robe’!
Kuruvilla comments…
“The former garment, which represents shame, buries Jesus in death. In other words, Jesus gets the garment of shame from the young man. That, of course, is not to assert that it was the one and same linen cloth. Rather, Mark uses the cloth as a literary device.
The purpose for this device becomes evident when we read the announcement of Jesus’s resurrection (16:1–8). Another “coincidence”: there we find the only other use in all of Mark of the term “young man”—to describe the angelic reporter clad in white (16:5). The only reason for Mark’s unique appellation, labeling as “young man” the one whom the other Gospel-writers called “angel,” must have been to link the two incidents with “young man” in them, in Mark 14 and 16, respectively”4
In other words, Mark’s purpose for including this odd detail about the ‘young man’ in chapter 14 appears to be in order to make a spiritual and theological point about what the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is accomplishing…
The ‘young man’, like us…falls away. Fleeing in shame and the nakedness of sin. That garment of shame is taken on by Jesus Christ in his death, who bore the punishment for our sin and wore our shame. But in His resurrection, we now put off those old garments of sin and shame and are clothed in white…clothed in His righteousness. We are made new!
Dr. Kuruvilla sums it up beautifully!
“This artistic portrayal of the exchange of garments bears an implicit promise: for those disciples who have failed in discipleship, God offers hope. Yes, there is hope for all of us who follow Jesus, albeit stumbling and failing, clumsy and hesitant. The shame of our failures is exchanged for the brilliance of Jesus’s glory, and we have hope indeed—because of what our Lord did for us. Amazing grace!”5
As the old hymn goes: “Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne”6
As we approach this weekend…reflecting on the events of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday..may we keep these truths in mind. If you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus, I pray that today you can embrace that hope. If you have already placed your faith in in Jesus, then I pray that you can reflect on the eternal significance of what we are are celebrating this weekend.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 ESV
HE IS RISEN!…HE IS RISEN INDEED!
Amen.
Sean Wagner
- James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, updated ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2009), s.v. “3495 νεανίσκος” ↩︎
- James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, updated ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2009), s.v. “4616 σινδών” ↩︎
- Abraham Kuruvilla, “Who Was That Young Man?” DTS Voice, December 30, 2013, accessed April 1, 2026. https://voice.dts.edu/article/who-was-that-young-man-kuruvilla-abraham/ ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Edward Mote, “The Solid Rock”, final stanza. ↩︎