…At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled. (Matthew 26:56b)

Although it was sort of a footnote in Sunday’s Sermon, Matthew 26:56 may be one of the most helpful and hopeful verses in the story of Easter.

ALL of Jesus disciples…his crew…his inner circle…his apprentices and friends, deserted him when he needed them most.  ALL of them.

Not two of them.

Not half of them.

Not most of them.

ALL of them.

Somehow I missed that.   I’ve heard lots of sermons about Peter, the ONE disciple who publicly denied he knew Jesus at the trial.  Or Judas, the ONE disciple (and treasurer) who betrayed Jesus to his killers and ended his own life in suicide.  Their failures were brutal…and public.

Matthew 26:56 tells us that ALL of the others also failed Jesus.  Not as publicly…definitely not as dramatically…but when it came down to it, they ALL failed Jesus. 

I love that.  Not that they failed…not that they deserted Jesus…but that Jesus forgave them all and entrusted them with leading the Church.   No one could brag that they were the ONE who had not failed.  ALL of them were forgiven.  Jesus started the church with a group of 100% forgiven failures. That sounds like the place for me.

How about you?