Note 5 at Mk. 14:51: Mark is the only writer to mention this young man who was clothed with this linen cloth. The relevance of this instance to the betrayal and arrest of Jesus is unclear. This has caused many to speculate that this young man was none other than the writer, Mark, and that he was indirectly referring to himself in the same way that John did in his gospel (see Introduction to the Gospel of John, p. xx).

This instance of the crowd laying hands on the young man does serve to illustrate how this mob might have treated the disciples if they had not fled.