Friday Acts 1:15-26

Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.

Click here for an online Bible. Acts 1:15-26

“In those days” means the ten days between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost. The eleven apostles devoted themselves to prayer. At one point Peter addressed the crowd about the issue of only having eleven apostles. Luke tells us that there were about 120 people there.

Peter reviewed what had happened. Judas was one of the twelve then betrayed Jesus. There seems to be a discrepancy between Matthew’s account of what happened concerning Judas and Luke’s account in Acts. Matthew (27:3-10) says that Judas was overcome with remorse after betraying Jesus and returned the money to the Priests. They said that they could not keep the money so they bought a field to be used to bury foreigners and it became known as the field of blood. Judas hanged himself.

Luke quotes Peter as saying that Judas bought the field. The priests said that they could not accept the money since it was blood money so they bought the field in the name of the donor of the money (Judas). So, in essence, Judas bought the field through the priests. It was called the field of blood because it was purchased with blood money.

Another problem is that Matthew said that Judas hanged himself while Luke says that Judas fell headlong and his body burst open. There are several possible explanations. In hanging himself, the branch of the tree might have broken and his body fell and broke open. Some people believe that after the body hung on the tree for a while, either the rope broke and the body fell or as people cut him down, the decomposed body fell and broke open. Some theorize that the body was removed immediately since it was the Sabbath and was thrown over the city wall into the Hinnom valley where it broke open. The point is that there are a variety of scenarios which reconcile the two accounts of the death of Judas.

Peter viewed Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 as applicable to their situation. David wrote these Psalms about his trusted associates which later betrayed him. Psalm 109:8 speaks of replacing the betrayer. Also, Jesus seemed to think that the proper number of apostles was twelve. That was an important number. There were twelve tribes of Israel. It made sense to replace Judas. Peter said that the replacement should have similar experience to the other apostles. He should have been a follower of Jesus from the time of Jesus’ baptism. He should be a witness to the resurrection. The group came up with two names, Justus and Matthias. I suspect that these were the only two that met the criteria that Peter gave. Both were qualified so how should they pick the right one?

Jesus chose the original twelve so it makes sense to let God select the replacement. They cast lots. The method was likely writing the names on two stones and putting the stones in a jar. The jar would have been shaken and either one shaken out or drawn out. Matthias was chosen. We never see him again in the New Testament, but whenever there is a reference to the twelve, it would include him.

So what do we make of this lot casting? Is it biblical? Should we practice it? We see several times in the Old Testament where decisions were turned over to God through the practice of casting lots. So it seems reasonable for the 120 in the upper room to use this method. Both men were qualified. However, we never see it used again in the Bible. A new way of discerning the will of God occurs in chapter 2. The Holy Spirit comes in power and changes forever how we follow God.

A couple of points for us to consider. First the importance of placing the proper people into leadership. Of the 120 people there, only two would be considered appropriate to appoint as apostles. They had high standards and sought God’s leadership. Secondly, they interpreted life in light of the scripture. They saw themselves as part of God’s unfolding plan and sought direction in view of the word of God. It is still the same for us. God’s plan is still unfolding and we are in the middle of it. We must interpret our lives in light of the scripture.