Bravery of early Christian martyrs

[rikuoamero]

I've heard many times that among the evidences in support of Jesus and his supposed death and resurrection is the fact that the earliest followers of Jesus were willing to die for what they believed.

However, I have to question this. Were the followers really that brave? There is tradition that says that Peter was crucified upside down, for example, but this was decades after Jesus's resurrection, and thus, no-one could prove or disprove it.
What I am getting at is that the supposed bravery of the followers is lacking right when it would have been most useful - at Jesus's trial, crucifixion and death.
We hear that a secret disciple Joseph of Arimathea even votes in favour of Jesus to be put to death! That he was a secret disciple out of fear of the Jewish/Roman leaders. Peter denies Jesus three times out of fear. The other disciples do nothing to resist the arrest.

Why is it that bravery and willingness to die for what one believes to be true...is completely absent at this most particular important moment in time, that it's only later, years and decades afterward, that Christians become brave enough to die for their beliefs?
Why do Christians laud the bravery of those who lacked this bravery precisely when it was needed most?

[Clownboat]

Everyone knows that the Bible and early Christian literature portray the disciples as fearful when Jesus was arrested, and bold when they began preaching his resurrection.

The sequence is quite logical when one has studied the Judaism of the time period. The disciples came to believe that their teacher was the Messiah; and with that belief came the other belief that he would be triumphant over all opposition.

He got arrested and gave no indication that he was going to fight his opponents: thus the disciples fled. He had disappointed their inherited beliefs.

When he was resurrected, their inherited beliefs had to step aside: thus their boldness.

From post 9:
The Apostles were said to have witnessed numerous miracles performed by Jesus prior to his arrest. One of those miracles was Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave. If these miracle accounts are true, then why did the apostles flee when Jesus was arrested? It seems reasonable to me that if Jesus displayed magical power, then the apostles would fear nobody.

Witnessing a person bring back to life a decomposing, liquifying body, I think we can all agree would be a truly supernatural and impressive feat!

Your explanation that you claim is quite logical does not seem to be as logical as some might like.

I say this because if they truly witnessed all the claimed miracles, once Jesus was arrested, his followers would be snickering about what the Romas just got themselves in to. Not, "Oh my, they got him now"!

Your explanation makes perfect sense if Jesus was regular man like all men have seemed to be and not a miracle worker like the religion created around him claims.

[1213]

...The other disciples do nothing to resist the arrest. ...

Probably because Jesus had said:

Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword.
Matt. 26:52

[Jagella]

He got arrested and gave no indication that he was going to fight his opponents: thus the disciples fled. He had disappointed their inherited beliefs.

I don't think the disciples would have expected Jesus to fight off those who sought to arrest him because his doing so would be presumably out of character for him. He was not known to be a fighter in a physical sense, and he deferred violence to be inflicted on his enemies by his Father Of The Sky later. I think the apostles would have been familiar with this view on vengeance on the part of Jesus, and therefore his not fighting off his abductors would not have surprised or unnerved them.

When he was resurrected, their inherited beliefs had to step aside: thus their boldness.

I'm not sure how the apostles knowing Jesus rose from the dead would make them brave. In fact such an event may have spooked them. Considering how they became fearful of Jesus walking on the water thinking he was a ghost (Matthew 14:26), I'd think the resurrected Jesus would be even more scary for them.