As surprising as Jesus' choice of them, the disciples apparently did not "touch themselves up" when reporting the Gospel narratives to others!

I feel pretty sure that your reading of the disciples is one that the authors intended, Bebe. It's a way of reading ourselves into the text, instead of laughing at the disciples' lack of awareness and thinking, "Well, I'd never have done that," or "I'd have understood what Jesus meant."

To me, it's not quite so much that they're "losers" as that they were quick to assume that they understood Jesus--"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?"--and instead they serve as reminders that we do not.

Great piece.