April 26, 2023

This month we have been looking at the story of how Jesus was betrayed and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, as found in Mark 14:43-52.  Each week we are viewing the life of one of the key characters in the story, besides Jesus and Judas

There are four (4) people who have been named or identified by their actions.  Our purpose is to learn a lesson or two that will help us to BE more like Jesus.

So far I shared some thoughts about Malik the Mobster – Mark 14:43-46, Simon the Slasher – Mark 14:47a, and Malchus the Earless – Mark 14:47b.  Today we are looking at a fun sort of guy by the name of Noam the Nah’ked Gai – Mark 14:51-52.

His claim to fame is that he was a STREAKER.  Uh huh … by definition, a streaker is “a person who runs naked in a public place.”  “Streaking” was a cultural fad that began on college campuses in the late fall and winter of 1973 and became a worldwide THING almost instantly.   If you really aren’t aware of the fad, you could read more about it here:

https://www.americanheritage.com/streaking-fad: #18 – Nah’ked Gai

Well-known singer Ray Stevens had a hit song that dealt with this in 1974.  In case you have never heard the song, you can listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtzoUu7w-YM: #18 – Nah’ked Gai

The Hebrew name Noam means “beautiful, good looking” – and that would probably help if a person were to choose to be a streaker.  I’ve given Noam a nick name; it’s the Nah’ked Gai.  In our story, Noam is known as the guy who left Jesus standing, surrounded by soldiers, in the Garden the night of His betrayal, while he ran off naked in the night.

When he was seized by the Roman soldiers, he escaped capture and ran, leaving his garment behind in the grasp of one of the soldiers. The identity of the man is truly unknown, so I’ve chosen the name of Noam as I felt it fit my storyline.  More than likely Mark wrote about this person because people of that era would have known the story and the person involved.

There are some things that we do know.  This person, Noam, is described in v. 51-52“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus.” When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”

 First – He was a young man.  This term was used of someone in their late teens and 20’s, before they were fully recognized as a mature man; usually around the age of 30.  The word often referred to someone who was a young attendant or servant in a home or at a social gathering.  He might have been someone entrusted with the care of the Garden during the late shift.

Second – He was wearing only a sindôn.  It was a fine light-weight linen cloth garment worn loosely at night over the naked body.

Third – He was a following Jesus.  The word here implies that he was following together with others.  A possible disciple of Jesus who may have been at or near the Upper Room for the Last Supper, or someone who joined with the Apostles as they made their way down through the city to the Garden, or someone who was waiting for Jesus and the group to arrive.

Fourth – He didn’t run for his life when the soldiers and the religious leaders came, when Judas kissed the Lord, when Jesus was seized and arrested, when Simon slashed, or even when body parts began flying through the air.   No, he ran “When they (soldiers) seized HIM,” v. 52.

Self-preservation.  So strong.  In America, we have a saying that captures the response of most people when they are faced with the threat of danger – FIGHT or FLIGHT.  He chose the later.

In a well-researched article written by Leda Zimmerman in the MIT News about this subject, the author wrote, {see: https://news.mit.edu/2021/fight-or-flight-why-individuals-react-differently-0223}

“When people feel they have a high degree of control but feel that violence is unpredictable, they are more likely to fight back, and when they sense they have neither control nor predictability, and more easily imagine being victims, they flee.”

Noam was probably a good guy.  Most people would say that he used common sense.  He knew he was out-gunned and out-manned.  But still he ran for his life when they seized HIM.” But note that he also stayed a little bit longer than everyone else, as we read in v. 50 “Then everyone deserted him and fled.”  Noam stayed longer than any of the Apostles who had spent 3 ½ years with Jesus.  But at the end of the day, he ran.

We get it.  Many of us have experienced running when we were in trouble, in over our head, and had our backs to the wall.  We can console ourselves with the fact that everyone else ran before us or that we were on the last train out of Dodge (City).  However, all of them including Noam abandoned Jesus.

I could go on and on about how the Lord may have felt seeing His boys heading to the hills or the sight of this young man’s pale buttocks disappearing in to the cool night air.  I could point out possible motives for their going.  I could make things sound nicer if I presented a bunch of excuses.  Nevertheless, they left … they left Him … alone.  In large part because they were more concerned about their lives than His.  Also, because He was more committed to them than they were to them.  Jesus had a bigger purpose that consumed His life than they did.  Jesus lived for a holy God, an everlasting home, and had an eternal game plan in mind.  Their world was much smaller, temporal, and corrupted by sin.  They hadn’t matured in their faith enough to transfer their allegiance solely to Him.

We often run.  We run when our whims, carvings, and lusts call out like the sirens of old.  We run when our earthly priorities conflict with God’s.  We run when challenged to choose the eternal over this world, to pray, and to read and practice the truths of Scripture.  We run when challenged to sacrifice, serve, or share our faith (much like Jonah did).

Again, Jesus didn’t run.  He stayed committed to His Father, to humanity as a whole, to those whose backsides were vanishing in the night air, and for you and for me.

In 2023 BE more like Jesus and less like Naom the Nah’ked Gai and the rest of the crew.  Live for something bigger than this world and your desires.  Keep your feet planted where God has you and fulfill His purpose through you.  Remember this world is passing away.