The increasingly negative light in which Jesus' twelve disciples are portrayed in the second half of Mark is remarkable. And it rings of authenticity. No one whitewashed the images of the apostles to avoid embarrassing them later. No one scrubbed the record of their depravity. Their self-consumption. Their abandonment of Jesus. It's all there. All the sin . All the treachery. On the page. And in this way, the text itself reminds us that faithful disciples don't try to paint a rosy picture when it comes to sin. Instead, they confess and repent.

@mporeilly All written by a guy who flunked out of the mission field…and doubtless was rehabbed in part by seeing other disciples’ junk on display historically, and met with grace, restoration, and renewed call to cross-bearing discipleship?