A new apostle

Introduction

Our text this morning is an interesting one. How many of you read through the second half of the first chapter of Acts in preparation for the message this morning? Well let’s read through it real quick as we get started.

Acts 1:12–26 ESV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Now at first glance this seems like a passage that we can just gloss over really fast and move on. After all, the beginning of chapter 1 was talking about Jesus’s ascension into heaven and the mission that he gave to the apostles and by extension to us. If you read on into chapter 2 you’ll see that it begins by talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit and then goes on into the salvation of about 3000 people on the day of Pentecost. When compared to those two passages the choosing of a new apostle seems rather anticlimactic don’t you think?

But we have to remember, nothing was written in the Bible by accident. Every word that was included was included for a purpose. It was all written down under the influence and inspiration of the Spirit of God and therefore there is a reason for every story, every sentence, every word. So what’s the reason behind this story? What’s the purpose of including this seemingly off-hand story about choosing an apostle to replace Judas?

Well there’s actually quite a lot in this passage so let’s dig into it a little bit.

Acts 1:12–14 ESV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Disciples devoted to prayer

So immediately following the ascension, once the angels were able to get the apostles to pry their eyes away from the clouds, they followed Jesus’s first command to them. They went back to Jerusalem, and they waited, just like Jesus had told them to do. Verse 13 mentions that “they went up to the upper room, where they were staying.” Many people want to tie this room to the upper room where the Last Supper was held before Jesus’s betrayal and crucifixion, but there is no evidence that it was the same room. Many houses in that time period had a large upper room, usually on the third floor, that was reached by outside steps. They were commonly used as dining rooms, as study areas for students, or were rented out to poorer families who could not afford a home of their own.

The 11 remaining apostles, who are each named by name, along with others, were gathered together in this upper room somewhere in Jerusalem and it says that they were devoting themselves to prayer. And that’s a key idea in this passage. When Jesus told them to wait on the Holy Spirit, they didn’t just sit and twiddle their thumbs. They spent time preparing themselves, preparing their hearts for the coming of the Holy Spirit. That’s the way we should be as Christians. We should be devoted to prayer. We should be devoted to preparing our hearts. We do that every Sunday during the Lord’s Supper, but it’s not something that should be just a once a week thing. The verse says they “were devoting themselves to prayer.” But what does that actually mean? Well the dictionary defines “devoted” as “zealous or ardent in attachment, loyalty, or affection. So it’s loyalty, attachment. But I think even better is the definition for devote, the verb form of the word. Devote means in part, “to concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc.” So when it says they were devoted to prayer, that was their focus. That was what they were concentrating all their attention on as they waited for the Holy Spirit.

Peter assumes leadership

The next section of the passage starts off by saying

Acts 1:15 ESV

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,

Now we’ll get into what he said exactly in a minute, but I want to look simply at the fact that he stood up and spoke to the assembly here. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we read this passage?

Matthew 16:13–18 ESV

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus had told Peter that he would be the rock, the foundation upon which the church would be built. But when Jesus was betrayed, remember Peter denied even knowing him. And then after Jesus’s resurrection Peter felt unworthy to follow him and he went back to fishing. That is, until Jesus recalled the apostles and restored Peter. Here in Acts chapter 1 is the first time we see Peter assuming a leadership role. It’s the first time we see hints that Peter will be the Rock that Jesus said he would be. And that’s a great reason not to skip over this passage. This is Peter’s first speech, his first sermon if you will.

So let’s look at what he actually said.

Acts 1:15–22 ESV

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

He starts off by saying, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled...” This is a common theme throughout the books of Acts. It’s this idea that scripture that has a prophetic emphasis must come to fulfillment. But it’s even more significant if you look at the original Greek. The word translated had to be in verse 16 is from the same root word that is translated as must in verse 22. That word is dei in Greek. It’s the verb form of necessity. Verse 16 uses the past tense so it could be translate, “it was necessary.” Verse 22 uses the present tense of the verb so it could be translated “it is necessary.” What Peter is saying here is, “Just as the prophecy had to be fulfilled that Judas would betray Jesus, so the prophecy must be fulfilled that we replace him.” The Psalm reads, “Let another take his office.” The apostles took that as prophecy and so they needed to replace Judas.

But why was it so important to replace Judas? Couldn’t the ministry go on just as well with 11 apostles instead of 12? Well, yes and no. Yes, the earthly ministry of witnessing to the miracles and teaching of Christ could absolutely have been accomplished by the remaining 11, but there is more to this than just the earthly ministry. To see that we have to turn to the book of Luke chapter 22 and look at part of Jesus response to the apostles when they were arguing about who among them was the greatest. He tells them:

Luke 22:28–30 ESV

“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

So there’s much more to the ministry of the apostles than just the earthly witness. Jesus tells them here that they will sit in judgment of the twelve tribes of Israel. And if they are to do that, there must be 12 of them, not 11. Further, this conversation occurs during the Last Supper so Jesus has just told them that one of them will betray him. He makes this announcement about them sitting in judgment over the twelve tribes when he’s already said that they are about to be reduced to 11. So it can be assumed that Jesus himself expected them to replace Judas.

So we see the importance, the need to replace Judas both from the Old Testament prophecy, and from the words Jesus himself, but now let’s take a look at what was required of the replacement.

Matthias replaces Judas

Peter gives us the requirements in his message. He says in verses 21 and 22

Acts 1:21–22 ESV

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

I think the best way to explain this passage is to read a section from one of the commentaries I used in studying for this week’s sermon. This is from the New American Commentary on Acts by John Pohill:

In vv. 21-22 Peter laid down the qualifications for Judas’s replacement. He had to be one who had witnessed the entire ministry of Jesus from the time of his baptism by John to the ascension. Above all he had to have witnessed the resurrection appearances. Here we have the basic understanding of the apostles’ role in Acts. They were primarily “witnesses” to Jesus, eyewitnesses who could share his teaching and confirm his resurrection and ascension. As such, the role of apostle was limited to the Twelve. It was a unique, irreplaceable office. There could be no apostolic succession, since there were no further eyewitnesses to succeed them. Note that James was not replaced after his martyrdom. It was necessary to replace Judas because he had abandoned his position. His betrayal, not his death, forfeited his place in the circle of Twelve. Even after death James continued to be considered an apostle.

And here Dr. Pohill explains further what we’ve already talked about with the apostles sitting in judgment over the tribes of Israel. He says:

Luke 22-28-30 speaks of the apostles’ unique role of sitting in the kingdom and judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Their number corresponds to the tribes of Israel, for in a real sense they represent the restored Israel, the people of God. The continuity with Israel necessitates the restoration of the full number of twelve. Because the church is built on the foundation of these Twelve as representatives of the true Israel, the people of God of the messianic times, their number had to be completed before the coming of the Spirit and “birth of the church.” Throughout Acts this unique circle of the Twelve eyewitnesses is characteristically designated as “the apostles.”

So I know that was long, but I think it makes an important point that the office that Judas vacated needed to be filled because they needed that eyewitness testimony to the teaching and actions of Jesus.

Now let’s read the final section of the passage one more time.

Acts 1:23–26 ESV

And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Now we don’t know much about either of these two candidates. Tradition tells us a little about them. Tradition says that Joseph became a missionary and as a result of his work he was forced to drink poison but suffered no ill effects. Tradition also tells us that Matthias either became a missionary to the Ethiopians and died there or that he became a missionary to the German people and his bones are buried at Trier. This is all speculation though and the Bible tells us nothing else about either of these two who met the qualifications.

What we do see here though is a prayer acknowledging that God knows the hearts of all, and asking that he would show which one he has already chosen to take over Judas place among the twelve. And then we see them casting lots and choosing Matthias. Many people within the modern church, especially the conservative, evangelical church, don’t like this “chance” element in the choosing of Matthias. They see it as gambling, or testing God, or something else that is right up on the line bordering on, if not stepping over the line into full blown sin. But you have to remember that in the Old Testament and even in the culture in which the apostles lived, the outcome of a situation was always seen to be determined by God. Before Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to lead it, the church sought the direction of God using this Old Testament mindset. They understood that God had already chosen, and they believed that he would cause the lots to fall to the correct choice. As we’ll see as we go on through the book of Acts, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church made its decisions under the direction of the Spirit. But in this case it was important that the decision be seen as the Lord’s, not theirs. So to them it was God who caused the lot to fall on Matthias, not blind chance, and not some vote of fallible human beings, but the divine decision of God.

So that’s it for the first chapter of Acts. And I hope you see how this passage still has something important to say to us. It’s not just filler that’s sandwiched between Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, but it actually speaks to us and shows us some important aspects of the history of the church.

Next week we’ll turn to chapter two and the coming of the Holy Spirit. But for now, would you join me in prayer?