Naked fugitive


The naked fugitive is an unidentified figure mentioned briefly in the Gospel of Mark, immediately after the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and the fleeing of all his disciples:
The parallel accounts in the other canonical Gospels make no mention of this incident.
The wearing of a single cloth would not have been indecent or extraordinary, and there are many ancient accounts of how easily such garments would come loose, especially with sudden movements.

Identity

Since ancient times, many have speculated on the identity of this young man, proposing:
Many have seen this episode as connected to a later verse in Mark: "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe," as the word for young man occurs in Mark only in these two places.
The naked fugitive has been speculated to originate in a possible Passion narrative that pre-dates the gospel of Mark. In such an early document, anonymity of the fugitive may protect this individual from official persecution.