Tackling Tradition (Part 7) 12 Apostles

 Acts 1:15–26 (ESV): 

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “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. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (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. 19 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.) 20 “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.’ 

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 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.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. 

Tradition informs us that there were 12 Disciples, a literal 12 men, one of whom, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Yeshua.   After the Ascension, 120 people gathered together & voted on 2 men, one of whom was admitted to the 12, Matthias, who became the 12th. On this view, Matthew & Matthias are separate individuals.  In addition, this text is often used to assert that they were limiting the number of Apostles to 12, which is obviously false insofar as Acts 14:14 names Barnabas an apostle.

What’s going on in Acts 1?  Who is Matthias?  Is he Matthew himself or not a separate individual.

Eleven men are named in 1:13. They nominated 2 of them to fill Judas’ original role.  Matthew was chosen.  He was numbered with the Eleven.  The eleven men were now The Eleven - the elected  governors of the 120. Luke amends Matthew’s name just he amends Saul’s name for a similar purpose.  

There were 120 people present at the same location when these events took place.  Out of these 120, two men were chosen to fill the economic role of Judas Iscariot within this band of 120 people.  Judas had been the keeper of the purse.  Think of him as the treasurer, the man who was in charge of keeping the money the group of them used as a mercy fund.  He had been alloted a share in their collective ministry, having filled a leadership role among them. 

 

Peter, apparently representing the collective perspective of those in leadership positions, set the conditions of membership within the leadership in general and the position to be filled by Judas’ replacement.  Any individual or individuals nominated had to be with them from the very beginning or really, really, really close up the beginning, and they had to be a literal eyewitness to the resurrected Yeshua.   

When the nominees’ names were put forward, the 120 were shown to have chosen two men from the innermost circle, Joseph Judas Justus Barsabbas, also known as Thaddeus/Judas son of James, and Matthias, aka Matthew, both of whom were men who understood money, were prophetic people, and were educated men. 

Barsabbas means “son of the Sabbath,” and Justus means “just, upright.” Joseph means “God will increase.”  He is Thaddeus (“heart, courageous), & likely Joseph of Arimathea himself.  Matthew means “gift of God.”  The names of these two men tell us about their character and their skill set.  

The Prophet Barsabbas is Jude, the author of the epistle of the same name, 2nd Peter, the long ending of Mark, the Pericope Adulterae, and one of Hebrews’ 3 authors (the other 2 being John Mark and Barnabas), giving evidence that he was well educated and articulate, and although not of Levi, he understood the Scriptures, the law, and prophecy the way a levite would have done in those days, which, given the meaning of “Thaddeus,”. makes him a likely candidate for Joseph of Arimathea. Matthew was a tax collector, and his alternative name “Levi” indicates that his skill set was similar. It makes sense that these two were nominated to replace the gatekeeper of the money purse.  

They chose a classically prophetic manner in which to choose between them.  The casting of lots set the mantle of treasurer within the group. He was then numbered with the eleven.  

They were not choosing someone to fill office 12. Rather, in their minds: they were choosing one of two individuals who were already part of the innermost circle, in order to fill Judas Iscariot’s assigned job among the 12 we today consider “the 12 Disciples.” The text does not state that they chose Matthias and he became Number 12, thus the eleven became twelve.  It states that he was numbered with the Eleven,  eg, the now set apart group of men who had originally been twelve in number and were now eleven & became The Eleven.

These 120 people are showing the first major signs of developing a church (churchly) order in which a core group of them would lead them. The gospels depict them as a band of itinerant men and women whose central teacher was Yeshua.  While learning from Him, they also learned from each other, and they also taught, served, and otherwise assisted not only themselves but also people in the communities to which they were sent in smaller numbers and in which they sometimes gathered together in larger numbers.  They are depicted as a prophetic, educational and service oriented answer to the Sanhedrin, Herodians, and Zealots who had for a time captured the hearts and minds of the people. 

To be a witness of the resurrected Lord here now takes on the beginnings of an office to be filled, an office that carried with it, particular responsibility - in this case the duties of church treasurer.   The text does not deny that the other 118 people in the pool of possible candidates are witnesses of the resurrected Lord in general.  Rather, it indicates that out of the pool of general witnesses, since Judas Iscariot was dead, there was a particular vacancy related to his role.   The text is careful to place Matthew among the Eleven, leaving the 12th position in what we consider today 12 or more possible positions open.  

Narratively, this foreshadows the addition of Barnabas, Paul, Silas, John Mark, and Apollos, at least one of whom, Apollos, because he was from Alexandria, might not have been in Jerusalem for the events we today consider Holy Week, or, if he was, he was in and out of their number or otherwise familiar with them, but not so associated with them that he would not later require remedial education in order to bring him up to speed as the Way expanded outwardly from Judea, Galilee, and Samaria itself into Ethiopia, Arabia, Antioch, Troas, Berea, Philippi, Ephesus, Alexandria, Macedonia, and eventually Rome and, in the hopes of Paul, Spain, and then the rest of the world beyond the Mediterranean Basin.