When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go (λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε αὐτὸν)." [John 11.43, 44 NIV]
Of course the King James Version of the text renders the Greek as:
And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with graveclothes and his face was bound about with a napkin Jesus saith unto them 'Loose him and let him go.'
Of course this archaic rendering leaves it actually obscures the obvious implication of the passage - the crowds take off the strips of linen in which the corpse was wrapped and now Lazarus stands completely naked before everyone. There is no other way to read the passage. There is no reference to Lazarus getting dressed in other clothes or the crowds or the disciples even having other clothes on hand.
For those who think it 'unseemly' that the gospel writers would have left someone naked in their narratives I remind the reader of a very similar passage in the Gospel of Mark that the youth:
fled naked, leaving his garment behind. [Mark 10:52]
As such it is hard to read John 11:44 any other way, thus reinforcing that Theodore's original question to Clement regarding some naked people in the narrative (γυμνὸς γυμνῷ) isn't that crazy. One might suppose that he had either imperfect information, that he was using the Gospel of John as his reference or that he was wondering whether the narrative might have been connected to the Platonic understanding of the afterlife (Gorgias 523d) which is referenced by the near contemporary Maximus of Tyre in the exact same terminology - i.e. 'naked with naked' (γυμνὸν γυμνῷ). Indeed we find that in some apocryphal gospels such as the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles datable to the 10th century and belonged once to the library of the White Monastery, situated in Upper Egypt, near the ancient Panopolis:
And as Jesus was saying these things, he cried out, saying, "Lazarus, come forth."7 And straightway the mount went round as a wheel. They that were dead arose, and came forth because of the voice of Jesus who called him, "saying, "Lazarus, come forth." And straightway Lazarus came forth, wrapped in grave-clothes, his face bound with a napkin, his head bound in grave-clothes. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Now when Lazarus saw Jesus standing at the door of the tomb, he fell down and worshipped Him. And he cried out saying, Blessed art Thou, Jesus, at whose voice Amente trembles even the voice wherewith He called me: the glory of whose godhead those who are in Amente desire to see. Blessed art Thou, Jesus, to whom belongs this voice of resurrection; for Thou art He him wno will judge the whole world. And as Lazarus was saying these things to Jesus, the multitudes followed after him to see him. Now when Jesus saw that the multitudes thronged him6 and Lazarus also — some of those belonging to his family embracing him, some asking after his welfare, his sisters kissing his mouth, in short there beingb a great clamour in the mount of Bethany: some shouting aloud, others confessing that there was never a man like this is Israel, some saying ""We believe on that man, that he is the resurrection, from that which we have seen in the tomb of Lazarus to-day;" the multitudes being gathered together to Lazarus, like bees to a honey-comb, because of the wonder which was come to pass.
But Lazarus did not go away from the feet of Jesus, kissing them, and bearing witness to the multitudes, and saying "Jesus is the resurrection of the quick and of the dead. What is the sight of this place at all compared with the sight of Amente at the hour that he called my name from the door of the tomb, saying, 'Lazarus, come forth? I say unto you, at that hour my father Adam knew his voice and his call as though he were at the gates of death, calling him. He spent a while with his ear inclined to his call, thinking that he was calling him. Adam bare witness to the multitudes, saying, "This call that I have heard is the voice of my surety, wherewith he calleth me in paradise. Where is that hour when he cotneth to paradise to call me? Who is this good son whom my Creator calleth by this name, saying, Lazarus, come forth? I pray thee, my son Lazarus, upon whom the mercy of the Almighty hath come, inquire of my Creator concerning me, O my beloved son Lazarus, saying, How long shall it be before I hear this call of life? [James De Quincey Donehoo Apocryphal Life of Christ p. 236]
Amente of course is the traditional Egyptian abode of the dead, Paradise for the Pharaohs and their subjects. The point here is that there were apparently a great number of variant accounts of the raising of Lazarus in antiquity. Some made reference to an underworld narrative where individuals were clearly naked, others as with the canonical gospel of John have Lazarus leave naked. LGM 1 (= the first addition to the longer gospel of Mark mentioned in the Letter to Theodore) is actually quite clearly the one which features no naked people whatsoever.
Theodore's question is clearly related to other accounts of other apocryphal gospel and/or the traditional Platonic understanding of the afterlife.
