a place for me/us?

My devotional reading this Good Friday was from the book of John, chapters 18 and 19 -- the account of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus.  I was struck by the fact that other than Jesus' faithful female disciples (ahem), the two folks who stuck around to care for his body were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus -- one a closeted follower, and the other so cautious he'd come to ask Jesus his questions under cover of night.  In other words, the wimps.  The guys who were reluctant to publicly display their  admiration for this radical rabbi's teachings.  The folks who were afraid.

Me.  You?

Jesus reached out to the sick and the lost, the marginalized and the reviled.  At the end -- that end which, blessedly, proved only a beginning -- those who reached out to him were people who'd previously proven lacking in fortitude.  I don't know about you, but I find that profoundly encouraging.