Acts 1:15-26
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
15 In those days Peter stood up
among the believers (a group numbering about a
hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be
fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke
long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for
those who arrested Jesus— 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness,
Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his
intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard
about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of
Blood.)
20 “For,” said Peter, “it is
written in the book of Psalms,
“‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and,
let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and,
“‘May another take his place
of leadership.’
21 Therefore it is necessary to
choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went
in and out among us,22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was
taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 So they proposed two men:
Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you
know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have
chosen 25 to take over this apostolic
ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the
lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
As
I read this scripture I found it interesting to go back and look at the beginning
of the Church as we know it today. No
longer was it a Jewish religion but now one that was based on the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. As I read this scripture I
noted that now that Jesus is not amongst the disciples Peter was now the one
that was quoting scripture and explaining it to the assembly. We will find this on more than one occasion in
Acts.
You
may wonder why they would have felt it necessary to replace the one who
betrayed Jesus and Peter points it out that there must be another one to take
his place. Some say that one was not
Matthias but that it was Saul who Jesus named Paul to be the one to replace
Judas. However, the believers of the day
felt that they were being led to choose Matthias.
Going
back a little in scripture we see that the eleven disciples, women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, along with His brothers were all together in the upper room
praying constantly. Remember from the
cross that Jesus instructed John that this was now his mother that he was to
care for? This is evidence that he was
doing so as he had her there with him.
The women, those women that stood by Jesus to the very end, the women
who first discovered that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, his brothers who did
not always believe that He was the Son of God, were all together in the upper
room constantly in prayer. They were not
going out and taking action, they were not fretting and stewing, they were
praying, praying constantly.
Now,
after much prayer Peter announcing to the whole assembly, about 120 that they
need to appoint a person to replace Judas.
There were specific qualifications that this person must have and it was
not the qualifications that we see in scriptures for elders/deacons but rather
this man must be someone that had walked and talked with Jesus from the
beginning, one who had witnessed the resurrection. Take special note, the one thing that was
being disputed was the resurrection of Christ.
The Sadducee’s of Jesus day did not believe in the resurrection. The Pharisees refuted it and even bribed the
guards to lie about the happenings of the day He was raised so believers needed
someone who would testify, without a shadow of a doubt, of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. You see, there is no other
god that is worshipped by man, other than Jesus Christ, who was raised from the
dead. Many others were people who
appeared to live life in the right way but only One was truly raised from the
dead.
It
appears to me that the entire assembly of believers agreed with Peter and
prayed that the Lord would show them who He chose. I have to wonder if this was really how the
Lord was going to choose the other Apostle but they seemed to think this is
what needed to be done. Jesus was on the
earth for 40 days prior to His ascension, why did He not choose someone
then? They had prayed though and felt
the only way to choose was to cast lots.
Did they vote, did they draw straws, did the men draw like in a lottery,
did they toss a coin? I am sure there
are scholars who would have their opinion but it just says they cast lots. In doing this Matthias was chosen and stepped
into the role of an apostle. Was this
man’s choosing or did it come from God? That is a question that we cannot answer but
we will see later how He chose one that did not fit the role of an apostle
according to our standards but it shows of the power of our Lord and Savior and
how He can and will choose the right person for the right job.
Yesterday
was election day in the United States of America and people cast their votes
for who they felt would be the best leader.
I am sure there were people who prayed who thought they were choosing
who God wanted them to choose that were on both sides. The one that was chosen was not chosen by man
but was chosen by God. Some may question
why God would choose him but we need to remember that no matter what, God is in
control. We need to pray for all of our
leaders that they may know the One true God.
That they may walk in His path and lead our nation to be the nation we
claim to be, One Nation, Under God.
As
you seek Him may you find that you are praying constantly and that you are
allowing Him to make the choices that are His and not your own.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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