“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,”
~ Mark 14:51

Hi James and Ellen,

Would you like to be reporters one day? Do you like to gather information? Do you like to pass on information to guys, gals and kids? Do you like to recount to your dad and/or ma what happened during your day at school? Do you like to write about the things that you see and find out about? John Mark wrote about the things that he saw and found out about. Your grandpaa thinks that there should be today more John Marks on planet Earth. Your grandpaa calls John Mark the ‘midnight reporter’. Your grandpaa thinks that John Mark may have at times followed Jesus to the places where Jesus walked to during the three or so years of Jesus’ ministry on planet Earth. Mark 14 has an extraneous incident inserted right into the middle of a very dramatic unfolding event – which makes your grandpaa believe that John Mark had to have been very near or right in the middle of where this incident took place. Verse 51 says, “A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,” The next verse has the young guy taking off running – leaving behind his linen garment. This incident took place just as Jesus was seized by a sword and club carrying mob. This frenzied mob was bent on capturing this incarnate guy – Who was Jesus – God the Son, and putting Him to death. One of the guys in the unruly mob – who was the high priest’s servant, had an ear lopped off by a sword swinging disciple of Jesus. The guy’s name was Peter who thought that he could keep his mentor from being captured. This had to have been a very intense, scary moment for every guy who got caught up in this mob action that night. This rowdy mob would take Jesus to the high priest where they expected the high priest to pass on a guilty verdict to have Jesus – God the Son, killed.

John Mark was able to write in one chapter of seventy-two verses a factual account of Jesus’ final week on planet Earth as an incarnate guy before Jesus would be brutally and unceremoniously tied to and nailed on a cross. John Mark reports in this chapter in his Mark Book that this incident took place two days before Passover was to be observed. Passover was an annual day that was set aside by God’s specially chosen guy and gals to remember what God did for them when He had His angel of death 1500 or so years earlier passed over their houses where they lived in Goshen, Egypt after they had painted the door jams of their places with the blood of a lamb that they had killed. Jesus was on His way to the city of Jerusalem with his band of twelve guys who He had randomly picked to disciple to celebrate this memorable event. While Jesus was on His way to the city of Jerusalem, Jesus stopped in Bethany at Simon the Leper’s house. An incident that took place there caused consternation among some of Jesus’ guys who He was discipling. A gal showed up with an alabaster jar that was filled with a very expensive perfume that was made out of pure nard. The gal broke the alabaster jar so that she could pour the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some of the guys in Jesus’ band of disciples – including Judas Iscariot, thought that the gal should not have done what she did. They thought that it would have better to sell the perfume and the money that they would have gotten from selling the perfume given to the poor instead of wasting it by pouring it on Jesus’ head. Jesus was fine with what the gal did.

John Mark goes on to recount how it came about that a couple of Jesus’ disciples would meet up with a guy who was carrying a jar of water who Jesus had told them that they would meet on the street who would take the disciples to a house which had an upper room where they would all meet to celebrate the Passover feast. John Mark continues to recount what took place that day as Passover was being remembered. Jesus would tell His disciples that one of them would betray Him. This also caused consternation among Jesus’ disciples. Jesus would also tell His disciples that the bread and the wine that they were using as the elements to remember the lamb that God had told His specially chosen guys and gals to kill and eat and to use the blood of the lamb to paint their door jams so that His angel of death would know not to enter to kill the first born of a family of God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the house were to become the elements to always to use to remember His body and His blood that He would offer as a sacrifice for them. John Mark would go on to recount Peter’s brash statement to His friend Jesus that he would never ever betray Him. This was after Jesus had told Peter that he would deny Him three times before he heard a rooster crow. One year during the Easter season when your grandmaa and grandpaa were going to the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church that is in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the pastor of the church asked your grandpaa to plan the evening services the week before Easter Sunday. Your grandpaa decided – using the members of the church, to dramatize the last week of Jesus’ life on planet Earth. Your grandpaa does not remember how he planned everything to unfold; your grandpaa just remembers that one of the things that he did was to have a table up front – that the table had the elements on it – which was a loaf of bread and some grape juice. Your grandpaa first had twelve guys who were members of the Aberdeen Christian & Missionary Alliance Church sit at the table. Your grandpaa had one of the guys represent Judas Iscariot. After all the guys took the elements – in the context of a Lord’s Supper, the other guys, gals and kids who were in the church went and sat at the table and . . . it was a very moving and memorable evening. For you to pull a John Mark is for you to keep a record of all the things that you see God doing in the lives of other guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa thinks that a good thing for all guys, gals and kids to do is to keep a journal or diary that specifically recounts daily what God is doing in and through their lives.

Mark 14 (527)