Acts 1:15-17, Acts 1:21-26, Psalm 1:1-6, 1 John 5:9-13, John 17:6-19.
(A) MATTHIAS CHOSEN.
Acts 1:15-17, Acts 1:21-26.
When Jesus appeared to ‘the eleven’ and the rest of the Upper Room assembly after His resurrection, He demonstrated the need for His death and resurrection from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, viz. ‘the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms’ (cf. Luke 24:44-45). I wonder which Psalms Jesus mentioned: there are so many which speak more-or-less directly about His Messianic work.
When the assembly met again after the ascension, one strand of teaching from the Psalms was particularly in Peter's mind when he suggested that the now dead traitor Judas Iscariot must needs be replaced (ACTS 1:15-16).
In Acts 1:20 Peter quoted two Messianic Psalms to explain the need to replace Judas. Peter personalised the imprecation of Psalm 69:25, ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it,’ and applied it to Judas. Peter also applied Psalm 109:8 to Judas, ‘Let another take his office.’
Peter said of Judas, “he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry” (ACTS 1:17).
Numbered with whom? With the twelve, who had now become the eleven. They were appointed by Jesus, and named ‘apostles’ by Him, and their names are given in the Gospels (e.g. Luke 6:12-16). In Acts 1:2 the eleven are entitled, ‘the apostles whom He had chosen,’ and it was to the Lord's choice that the church submitted themselves for a replacement for Judas (ACTS 1:24-25).
One of the qualifications of Judas' replacement was that he should be one of those who had accompanied the disciples from the very beginning of Jesus' ministry right through to the ascension. He was also to be a witness with them to the resurrection, so it was imperative that he should have seen the risen Lord (ACTS 1:21-22).
The church chose two candidates (ACTS 1:23). They prayed for the Lord's choice between them, and drew lots (ACTS 1:24-25). Remember that the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon them: this is the last time in the Scriptural record that this Old Testament device was used. The lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven (ACTS 1:26).
It is important to recognise the foundational nature of the Apostleship of the twelve. On the gates of the New Jerusalem are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and on the foundations of the wall of the city are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 21:12; Revelation 21:14). There is a continuity between Israel and the Church, and the use of the number twelve is thus significant.
The twelve were chosen and commissioned by Christ, walked in and out with him from the baptism of John to the ascension, and had a personal post-resurrection encounter with Him (ACTS 1:21-22). The twelve were promised, and later received, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We may not all be apostles, but we all have a role to play (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27-30; Ephesians 4:11-12).
(B) THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.
Psalm 1:1-6.
The Book of Psalms begins with a benediction. Psalm 1 then proceeds to declare who are the righteous and who the wicked, along with their separate destinations.
Psalm 1:1.
The blessing is literally, “Oh the happiness!” We are put in mind, of course, of the Beatitudes taught by Jesus in Matthew 5.
Yet the happy man is not seen first in what he does, but rather in what he does not do. The contrast with the wicked is intended from the very beginning.
People complain that God’s commandments are full of negative commands: ‘You shall not…’ However, the usual state of man since the Fall of Adam is one of disobedience to God. It is only natural that we should use man in his estate of sin and misery as a contrast to what man should be, and what the “righteous” man is.
We see the blessed man refusing to enter into the postures of the wicked. Whether he walks, stands, or sits, he is not numbered with them in their negative attitudes. They are without God, and God has given them over to sin. Their “seat” is the chair of bold irreverence.
Psalm 1:2.
The righteous man is described as one who delights in the law of the LORD. This is to place our confidence in the Scriptures of God, and in the God of the Scriptures.
Psalm 119:1 gives us a description of the happy man by way of another benediction: ‘Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.’ Here the character of the righteous is seen to be based firstly in his being ‘undefiled.’
Who are undefiled but those whom God has declared righteous in Jesus Christ? We cannot begin to walk this way without Him. But when we are clothed with Christ, God looks upon us and sees not our sins, but the very righteousness of Christ.
Only after this great transaction can we even begin to “delight in the law of the LORD.” It is well to make the Scriptures our constant study. If we are truly His it will be no drudgery, but rather a delight.
Psalm 1:3.
The present state of the blessed man is described as being “like” a tree planted by the riverside. To be planted is to take root, to have a permanent residence. Those who are rooted in Christ are irrigated by His Spirit, and bring forth fruit for Christ. (cf. John 15:1-10).
Jeremiah 17:7-8 uses the same figure: ‘Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither cease from yielding fruit.’
Here the basis of our blessedness is seen to arise from our faith, our trust in Christ. Being ‘rooted and grounded in Him’ (cf. Ephesians 3:17; Colossians 2:7) we find that we are protected from the forces which would otherwise wither our Christian lives.
All that we do for His glory will prosper. The man who pursues holiness will find not only what he sought, but will also incidentally find true joy and everlasting happiness.
Psalm 1:4.
The conduct of the wicked is seen to be contrary to that which typifies the righteous. They delight rather in those negative postures and attitudes enumerated in verse 1.
The wicked are not really happy. The man who uses all his energy in the pursuit of happiness will never really find it. The reaper in Israel uses the wind to separate the chaff from the grain. Thus shall it be for those who seek not God: they will be driven away and separated forever from the righteous (cf. Matthew 13:30).
Psalm 1:5.
The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is now stood upon its head. The righteous “stand” as those acquitted, those accepted by God.
The wicked made his choice in this life to “stand in the way of sinners” (back in Psalm 1:1). His destiny (here in Psalm 1:5) is that he “shall not stand in the judgment.” The sinners scoffed at the righteous, but now they find themselves excluded from “the congregation of the righteous.”
This eternal separation of the wicked from the righteous is taught throughout the Scriptures. Jesus Himself speaks more than once of a place where there shall be ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ This is no temporary punishment: Matthew 25:46 reads, ‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’
The blessing of the righteous and the separation of the wicked is a theme echoed at the very end of the Bible. Revelation 22:14-15 reads: ‘Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.’
Psalm 1:6.
By way of encouragement for the godly we are told that “the LORD knows the way of the righteous.” Perhaps at times we are cast down, burdened in the midst of trials. The LORD knows, and is present with us in the midst of them all.
Job 23:10 tells us: ‘He knows the way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’
Though we may ‘walk through the valley of the shadow of death’ (Psalm 23:4), it is after all just a shadow. And even there, our Good Shepherd is present to lead and to guide. If we have new life in Jesus, we have life in all its abundance, and life for all eternity.
As for the ungodly, their way shall perish (cf. Psalm 37:1-2). All their rebellion against God, all their sinful schemes and plans against His people, shall end in ruin. The fact that Psalm 1 does end on this negative note stands as a warning to us all: get right with Jesus, before it is too late!
(C) A GREATER TESTIMONY.
1 John 5:9-13.
The claims of 1 John about Jesus Christ are trustworthy, because their source is God.
Why are these claims important?
They are important because they are the words which lead to everlasting life (John 6:68).
A matter may not be established except on the testimony of at least two, and preferably three witnesses (Matthew 18:16).
We have the testimony of:
John the Evangelist (John 21:24);
John the Baptist (John 1:6-8);
Jesus’ works (John 5:36); and
Scripture (John 5:39).
We also have the testimony of the Spirit’s descent, and the Father’s voice at the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17).
John says that the witness of God is “greater” than human witness (1 John 5:9).
This is the third time in this letter that John has used this particular adjective with reference to God (cf. 1 John 3:20; 1 John 4:4).
All who “believe” in the Son of God have this witness in themselves (1 John 5:10), exactly because they do believe!
The word “believes” is in the perfect tense: present, permanent, and continuous.
Those who do not believe make God out to be a “liar” (1 John 5:10).
The same accusation is levelled against those who say they have not sinned (1 John 1:10).
Those who do not believe are condemned already (John 3:18).
In a courtroom we are required to swear to the veracity of what we are saying ‘by’ the God of all truth.
Since there is none greater, God swears by His own self (Hebrews 6:13).
For us to accept His testimony, we must not only ‘believe’ (like the devils in James 2:19), but ‘trust’!
To believe “in” the Son of God is to commit oneself to Him, to trust Him.
When we do so trust, the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to ours (Romans 8:16).
Yet what are we to believe?
“This is the record,” says John: “that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His (resurrected!) Son” (1 John 5:11).
Two sides are opposed to one another:
Those who have the Son, have life;
Those who do not have the Son of God do not have life (1 John 5:12).
Those who believe have the Son, and therefore already have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
This is what makes the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ such wonderful Good News!
(D) INSIDE THE PRAYER OF JESUS.
John 17:6-19.
Jesus was aware of the power invested in Him to bring “all flesh” (John 17:2) under the sound of the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-19), and to give eternal life to such as the Father gave Him (John 17:2). This is a great mystery, wrapped up as it is in what we call the doctrine of election (John 17:6; John 17:9-10). This teaching, incidentally, does not take away from the duty of the individual to respond to the Gospel (John 3:16).
Jesus imparts eternal life in order that His disciples might know the true and living God (John 17:3). This is only possible through “Jesus Christ” - the anointed Saviour - sent by God. It is accomplished through the manifestation of the Father in the Son (John 17:6; John 14:9), the impartation of spiritual knowledge (John 17:7), and the receiving of Jesus’ words (John 17:8).
It is a great marvel that Jesus does not view us as we might view ourselves. It is Jesus’ decided opinion that the men whom He had often challenged with the very littleness of their faith “have kept thy word” (John 17:6), have “received” the words of God, and have “believed” (John 17:8). The Father in heaven also looks upon us not according to the failings of which we are all too aware, but in the light of our association with His Perfect Son.
Jesus’ first petition (John 17:1) had been that the Father would receive Him back into the glory from which He had condescended to come (Philippians 2:6). Now He prayed for His disciples: for the eleven first (John 17:9), but also for all who would follow them (John 17:20). Jesus did not pray for the state of the world, but (in the words of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer) for “the whole state of Christ’s Church.”
The grounds of Jesus’ prayer for the disciples are that they are God’s people, and that they have been entrusted to the Son by the Father. Those who belong to Jesus - and those alone - belong to God. It is truly wondrous that even our little faith and our faltering obedience glorify His name (John 17:10).
Again, Jesus speaks in the prophetic perfect, as if the things of which He spoke had already come to pass (John 17:11). To His mind it was as if He had already left the earth and returned to His Father, and He was aware of how vulnerable His disciples would feel without Him. Jesus had reassured the disciples that He would not leave them comfortless (John 14:18); now He prayed that the Father would keep them (John 17:11); and later He also promised His own continuing presence with us “to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).
In the second part of His prayer, our Lord addresses the “Holy Father” (John 17:11). This epithet is unique, but understandable. Jesus is about to pray for the disciples’ sanctification (John 17:17).
John 17:11. He prays that they will be “kept through the name” of God. Throughout the Old Testament, the LORD had introduced Himself through His various attributes, under various names. Now it is a new name, the name of Jesus, by which we may come into the presence and under the protection of the Father.
Jesus prays for the disciples because they are those whom the Father has given to Him. He prays that they may have the type of unity which reflects the oneness of the Godhead. This is a high standard which Church may aim at, provided it is understood that godly unity does not compromise the essential truths of the Christian faith.
John 17:12. During Jesus’ earthly ministry He had been keeping the disciples on behalf of His Father, like a shepherd guarding the sheep. Now He was about to be taken away from them. At this point in time none of them was lost except, He says, “the son of perdition.”
In the Greek language, the strong term “son of destruction” may refer either to the character or the destiny of Judas Iscariot. Jesus does not finally cast away any whom the Father has entrusted to Him (John 6:37), so either Judas was not a true disciple, or the reference is only to his death rather than his eternal destiny. The expression is a Hebraism, like King David’s use of the expression “son of death” which is translated as “worthy to die” (1 Samuel 26:16; 2 Samuel 12:5).
Jesus was fully aware that the defection of Judas Iscariot was in fulfilment of Scripture (Acts 1:16-20). Thus, the Old Testament is brought forward by the New as being fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Every detail of His ministry had been mapped out beforehand.
John 17:13. Speaking as if His death, resurrection, and ascension were already in the past, Jesus was “now” coming to the Father. He left us His peace (John 14:27; John 16:33), and prayed that His joy might be fulfilled in His people. It is amazing that Jesus was thinking about His own joy at such a time, but as God He sees the end from the beginning (Hebrews 12:2-3).
John 17:14. In order that the disciples might be sanctified, Jesus gave them the Word. We cannot expect to be “kept” in our Christian faith if we neglect the Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We may be hated for living by this standard, but it is inevitable that those who hate the Master will also hate His faithful servants (John 15:18-21).
John 17:15. Jesus emphasises that He wishes His disciples to be kept in the world, but protected from the evil of the world. Sometimes we might hope to be taken out of the world and away from its troubles. Such demands have been refused to saints more eminent than us.
John 17:16. This world is not our home, even as it is not His home. We are just passing through. The world has such a hatred for God’s people, that Jesus repeats the last clause of John 17:14 in full in John 17:16.
John 17:17. Sanctification is a setting apart for a holy purpose. Jesus prayed for the setting-apart of the disciples through the effectual working of God’s Word, the word of truth, in their hearts. Sanctification is also a growth in holiness, so the disciples were to be the holy servants of the “Holy Father” (John 17:11).
John 17:18. The first Apostles, like Paul after them, were “separated unto the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). This separation was for mission. Again, Jesus saw His disciples in the prophetic perfect, as already sent into the world.
John 17:19. Jesus also, even as the prospect of the Cross grew ever nearer, set Himself apart as our priest and sacrifice. He prayed that the disciples through the truth might be separated to the service of the truth. And thus, He won us to Himself, and set us upon the path to holiness.
