Give ’Em Credit

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” John 11:8

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” John 11:16

The disciples often look bad in the gospels.  They often don’t understand Jesus.  They’re sometimes selfish.  And they have a moment of epic failure.  They abandon Jesus in the garden when he’s arrested.

But that’s just a moment.  As we see in the Lazarus story, the disciples were prepared to die with Jesus.  They knew the end was coming for Jesus.  And they were prepared to die with their teacher.

The disciples were not cowards.  The disciples were courageous.  They just had a moment their courage failed.

Sound like anyone you know?  We have moments like that too.  But just as we wouldn’t want to be defined by our worst moment, let’s not define these guys by their worst moment either.

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