Would you... Could you...

The disciples.  The twelve disciples.  What to say about them?

Jesus' disciples get a lot of flack for their obliviousness to the meaning of his words until after he had risen.  They are called doubting, disowners, and betrayers.  We sometimes have to laugh at just how childish they seem.

And yet...

They were incredible men.  They left their homes, their families, and their jobs to follow a man they barely knew.  They traded in security for a life on the run and safety for persecution.  They lived homeless, not knowing what the next day would hold, for three years, following a man who made claims that were heretical to many.

They believed with more than their hearts, they believed with every inch of their body and soul.  They followed a man who said he would die with the devotion of men searching desperately for life.

They were more than Jesus' disciples.  They were his friends and his family.

After he had returned to heaven, ten of the original twelve would die as martyrs in the name of the Church.  They would be crucified, stoned, stabbed, and beheaded.  And yet, the message they planted would outlive the Roman Empire, spreading to all corners of the Earth.

When viewed in this light, one has to ask himself, would you have been a disciple?  Would you have been willing to give it all up just to listen to God's message?  Would you have followed Christ if you knew the price was your life?

Could you have been a disciple?

"From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.  'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve.  Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God'" (John 6:67-69).