One naked believer

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Mark 14:50
50
Then everyone deserted him and fled.

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Mark 14:51-52
51
A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,
52
he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

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Gospel of Thomas saying 21
1
"What are your disciples like?"
2
He said, They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs.
3
When the owners of the field come, they will say, "Give us back our field."
4
They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them.
5
For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives, and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions.
6
As for you, then, be on guard against the world.
7
Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come.
8
Let there be among you a person who  understands.
9
When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it.
10
Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!

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The significance of the passages in Mark and the saying left for us in the gospel of Thomas, carry a similarity worthy of discernment.

It is a group of disciples, who represent the relationship of the twelve tribes of Judah with the Father through the Lord. They were each called and they followed, and they witnessed, and they were served by their Master. In the end, they abandoned Him for their own sake, in fear for their lives. Disciples who later recieved annointing of the Holy Spirit, the fruition of a promise made by the sacrificial Lamb of God. These disciples represent the vine, as they are Israel, the twelve.

Yet, we see that there was one, not of the twelve, who did not abandon and flee. He had nothing, and denying the fear he likely had, followed the soldiers whom had seized Jesus. It is said he had nothing but a linen garment, and when the guards went to seize him, he managed to escape naked, leaving them holding the garment. Was he not the one that Jesus foretold would understand in the gospel of Thomas?

What the true disciple did was return to the enemy what the enemy could make claim of, which in this case was the only physical possession of the lone disciple, his garment. All that remain was the unseen fruit that the lone disciple carried in himself. A thief in the night, claiming an act of faith, that the enemy had no claim on, as it was not of the field the enemy has claimed ownership  of. One disciple, of faith, acting in love.

Did not this one disciple steal away the only good fruit harvested on this night?

So in this hour of darkness, when all abandoned the Son of God, one at risk to self; managed to serve the will of God. Overcoming themselves, by the strength of the faith the Father placed in them. A strength made perfect in the belief they carried forward into the moment. The one disciple showed he feared God and not the enemy, in this dark hour. An act of faith that none of the other disciples showed. It is my belief that this one act of faith, stole away the authority of the enemy over the gentile world.

This one act of fearlessness for the sake of love, made a disciple of one who would be grafted onto the vine that is Christ Jesus. While the enemy made the others scatter in fear of it's authority, this one disciple feared God more, and only escaped with the flesh the supplied the fruit of holiness through it. An act of holiness in humanity's darkest hour.

To go further, the other disciples, fearing the enemy, sold all they had to purchase weapons, weapons meant to defend themselves. Yet Jesus, healed the wound their fear created. But here is this one believer, weaponless, wearing a single piece of cloth, who would not flee, would not leave the Son of God to be abandoned. Making a stand for love's sake. And barely escaping, naked into the darkness.

The field is the conscience of mankind. The enemy leads mankind by their senses and desires. What is placed in front of us, bears fruit from the conscience...what is planted bears fruit.

The harvest honors the owner of the field, as the enemy has planted a vine of it's own. This vine honors them and not the Father. The choices mankind makes from the reactions they have from what is placed in front of them..what is planted in the moments in front of them, bears fruits that is actually the will of the enemy.

The gospel of the kingdom, says to do the will of God, one must deny themselves, and allow the truth to instead work through them. This is what the one believer did, that the other disciples did not. The one believer who followed Jesus, denied himself, and allowed the love he had to supply the truth in his act of faith. And the enemy had no power over him, even in this darkest hour. And the enemy watched him slip away in his nakedness. In victory.

The knowledge of good and evil brought the capacity for wisdom to the conscience of mankind. How one reacts to this knowledge does not honor the Father, nor His truth. All wisdom and understanding does in honor self, and the actions taken, whether for evil or for good, all bear fruit that honors the enemy. It is all sin, it all carries cost, as none of it is based in truth-Amen.

Loving acts based on the spirit of truth acting through us, honors the Father through the belief we carry forward in His sacrifice of His Son and the authority eternally in him. There is no need for understanding in acts of faith, because selflessness is the basis of the service. So the enemy, the field of knowledge, that field's vine, and the bad fruits it bears, all are denied, when loving acts are grown from the true vine.

The one naked believer, escaping naked, the clutches of the enemy. Truly, that is the one unknown believer that Christ Jesus deserved, and is the banner of the nation of believers that bear his Name eternally. Fighting the good fight.

Carry On!