STAND FOR JESUS, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT

Mark 14:47-52

⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by pulled out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and took off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against an insurrectionist, with swords and clubs to arrest me? ⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And they all left him and ran off. ⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but a shirt around his body. And they seized him, ⁵² but he left the shirt and ran away naked.

the day I ran from Jesus

Mark’s account of Jesus’ arrest really does feel surreal—almost dreamlike in its disjointed details. A sword flashes in the dark. A servant’s ear is severed. Yet Mark doesn’t pause to tell us about the healing, perhaps because he wasn’t close enough to see it. Jesus points out the absurdity of the moment: they come armed with clubs and swords to seize the One who had been teaching openly in the temple all week. Nothing about this arrest is logical. It is driven by fear, not truth. And Jesus knows it must unfold this way so that the Scriptures will be fulfilled.

Then comes that strange, almost embarrassing detail—the young man who nearly gets arrested himself, fleeing so quickly that he leaves his garment behind. Many have wondered whether this was Mark inserting his own memory into the story. If so, it is a memory marked not by courage but by shame. His one moment in the scene is a moment of running away. And that, too, is part of the honesty of the gospel. Even those who would later proclaim Christ boldly had moments when fear won.

It is sobering to imagine your only encounter with Jesus in His darkest hour being the memory of fleeing from Him. But that is precisely why this detail matters. It warns us gently but firmly: don’t run away from Jesus. Don’t let fear, confusion, or pressure push you from His side. The mob may be loud. The night may be chaotic. But the safest place in the world is still near Him.

LORD, give us the courage to stand with You when others are standing against You.