Acts 1:12, “The apostles were at the Mount of Olives when this happened, so they walked the half mile back to Jerusalem.”
Here then we turn our attention to an event that is of utmost importance for us in our study of Acts thus far. We have surveyed thus far, the Kingdom of God, going to the nations to our neighbors and such. Here now the attention moves to a very important part. The focus of Acts 1:12-26, is of course the choosing of Matthias as an Apostle, but it is the reasoning behind this that is of importance for us today. We know there were twelve apostles who were with Jesus, one murdered himself, and we will look into that today. Here then we see something of significance the fact that they were at the Mount of Olives is important. The Mount of Olives rises to overlook Jerusalem from across the Kidron Valley to the east (Zech 14:14). More a hill than a mountain, it rises some 400 feet above the floor of the Kidron Valley. That makes it only about 200 feet higher in elevation than Jerusalem itself. It was from the backside of the Mount, near the little village of Bethany that the Lord ascended (Luke 24:50). The reference here to half a mile can also be translated from the Greek as a Sabbath day’s journey, in which case the maximum distance one was permitted to travel on the Sabbath under rabbinic law. This rabbinic law was fixed at 2,000 cubits or about one half to three quarters of a mile (Josh 3:4). This distance derives, according to tradition from Israel’s encampments during the forty years of wilderness wanderings. The farthest tents were held to have been 2,000 cubits from the tabernacle, although Scripture nowhere specifies that distance. Hence 2,000 cubits would equal a Sabbath’s day journey.
Acts 1:13a, “13Then they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.”
Jesus has just told them in Acts 1:4 to not leave Jerusalem till the coming of the Holy Spirit. It goes to reason that this house could not have been far from the Eastern gate of the city cause a Sabbath’s journey from the backside of the Mount of Olives would have put the apostles just inside the city walls. The key to the power the Apostles were about to experience was found in them meeting together in being together As we are working together as believers let us not forget that we must spend quality time not only with God in study and prayer, but with each other in heart to heart fellowship.
Acts 1:13b-14, “Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.”
While it was James who was the Leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17;15:13), it is Peter’s name here mentioned first. This is an obvious indication that the Lord had restored him as the leader of the Apostles. Much of our attention will be focused upon Peter during our study of Acts up until the end of Acts 8 when we encounter Paul. Honoring Mary is important; however all worship is clearly not what our Lord intended for her. Luke 11:27-28, “As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, "God bless your mother--the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!" He replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice." Those who desire to follow Christ must not only count the cost of obedience, but push towards the mark of obedience to Christ’s commands, and hear the thus the Lord hath spoken to them and observe it from His Word. It is important as these believers were together and meeting together, they devoted themselves to praying more than likely for the coming outpouring at Pentecost to occur.
Acts 1:15-20, “15During this time, on a day when about 120 believers[4] were present, Peter stood up and addressed them as follows: 16"Brothers, it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided the Temple police to arrest Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David. 17Judas was one of us, chosen to share in the ministry with us." 18(Judas bought a field with the money he received for his treachery, and falling there, he burst open, spilling out his intestines. 19The news of his death spread rapidly among all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means "Field of Blood.") 20Peter continued, "This was predicted in the book of Psalms, where it says, `Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ And again, `Let his position be given to someone else.’[5]”
As we follow the Lord it is easy to become as a person who walks along the way, listening to only what they want. Their bones become dry and hallow instead of full and vibrant for Christ. Many have walked down the path of faith throughout the centuries found salvation in the words of the Lord, and become born again by faith in what Christ accomplished on the Cross; however many have not accepted that reality. Sadly, many have become like Judas only wanting what they wanted when they wanted it thought about Christ’s cruxification and considered themselves unworthy of that very grace which God offered them so freely.
To call someone a Judas is among the worst names you could call someone for anything. Judas was a coward who was used by the Devil and our Lord knew this the whole entire time during His ministry. This goes to show that even in the church leadership today that there are leaders who are not really God’s messengers but messengers of darkness. Judas is the prime example of the protypical fence straddler. Not only was Judas’ heart not touched by Christ even though he was with Him his heart was callous.
Many have suggested that Judas was in the militant wing of Judaism, and perhaps this is so. The Jews viewed Jesus not as a mighty warrior riding in on a mighty steed as He will at His second coming, but as an outcast an atrocity to there fundamental understanding of even to the Law. Peter here is telling the crowd that the fulfillment of prophecy is becoming reality here and now by linking key Old Testament passages to the present situation thus giving Peter a context, from which to speak boldly about God’s abundant grace in Christ.
Peter’s standing up shows his acceptance once again as the leader of the Apostles. Peter regained assurance between the time that he had denied Christ and the time that he stood up. That they are trying to replace the fallen apostle is a mater of Old Testament prophecy. It has been held that collections of such testimonies were compiled and circulated at an early date for ready reference, their nucleus being provided by Jesus’ own instruction to his disciples on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Luke 24:25-27).
Here it is also seen that the verses Peter quotes are from Psalm 69:25 a prayer that the dwelling place psalmist’s enemies may be deserted; the latter, from Psalm 109:8, prays that a certain enemy may die before his time and be replaced in his responsible position by someone else. Therefore, here the appointment of a successor to Judas is warranted.
Acts 1:21-26, “21"So now we must choose another man to take Judas’s place. It must be someone who has been with us all the time that we were with the Lord Jesus-- 22from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us into heaven. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection."
23So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they all prayed for the right man to be chosen. "O Lord," they said, "you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen 25as an apostle to replace Judas the traitor in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs." 26Then they cast lots, and in this way Matthias was chosen and became an apostle with the other eleven.”
The qualifiers for an apostle are set forth here. First they must have been with the Lord during His lifetime as well as during His baptism. The Apostles did not just flip a coin they were faced with a hard decision. By them in all sense casting lots here they were judging with was worthiest to fill the vacancy. It may be well that they were as nothing to choose between Joseph and Matthias; in that case the casting of lots, which had very respectable precedent in Hebrew saved history was a reasonable way of deciding on one of the two, especially since they besought God to overrule the lot, in the Spirit of Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord.” After the Spirit came in Acts 2 there was no longer any need for casting lots since they had the Spirit of Truth within them.
The function of the lot was for the fact that the Apostles realized the importance of having a twelfth Apostle for the simple reason of the ruling of Israel on the twelve thrones. Gonzalez points out, “What are we to say about the election of Matthias and its application to our day? This depends on how we interpret the message and purpose of the entire book of Acts. It has often been thought that Acts was written in order to uphold the role and authority of the apostles. In such a case, the purpose of this passage would be to show that Matthias, the twelfth of the apostles, was elected by the Lord just as the others were. On the other hand, the fact remains that Matthias is never again mentioned, either in Acts or in the rest of the New Testament. Therefore never again mentioned, either in Acts or in the rest of the New Testament. Therefore, it seems more appropriate to see in this episode a step in a transition that will be clear throughout the early chapters of Acts. The apostles and the early disciples, grounded in their biblical tradition, saw a special significance in the number twelve, which is clearly related to the twelve tribes of Israel. (The Acts of the Apostles: The Gospel of the Spirit by Justo Gonzalez).
As believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit we are to rely upon that very same Spirit as we go out from our communities where we gather to worship, both online and offline in praise of our Lord and Savior. Let us never forget that our Christian lives are to be offerings both sacrificially in time and in effort. The hardest part about being a Christian is walking towards that very work, towards the very Cross that redeemed us. The Christian life is a process of being transformed while being faithful to what God wants at the same time. The message of the church is the same, the unchanging Good News that God wants to have a personal relationship with you today through believing on what His Son did for you on the Cross, thus being covered by His blood. What has changed however is the method of the mission while to still go to the ends of the earth, but as we do, engaging the surrounding culture in such a way that we would be relevant, yet still true to the nature of the Gospel and the Word of God. This is the greatest challenge the Body of Christ faces today, interacting a post-modern, Post 9/11 society which is focused on terror, a problem rather than upon a solution, inner peace found in relationship with Jesus, instead the world seeks only after outward peace, a false peace which will ultimately lead to its demise.
Many would rather focus upon the structure of the church and how it is governed or a certain formula for success in ministry; however the Book of Acts shows us at the heart of the matter is not the structure of the church, but the mission as the Church. The eleven here then seek to keep the structure by naming one to take the place of Judas, but the reality is that God through His Spirit calls the Church to a new dimension in mission that will require that new leaders, new structures and methods of reaching people will be necessary if not required in order to reach these people. Part of the problem truly is that we have lost the wonder of being creative as children are.
Matthew 19:14, “But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
Perhaps you have seen that today you need to recover that sense of creative wonder about pursuing Christ wholly and begin to walk in the wonder of God. Perhaps your faith has become lukewarm or stale or perhaps you have just lost the wonder or awe of being His Child. As His child though redeemed by His blood, you are adopted and held in His hand forever. Come to Jesus and let Him refresh you today. Regain again the wonder and the awe of being creative for this is an essential part of being His child. God birthed you in creativity for the very act of salvation to its fundamental core is creative. Don’t you see its time for His children to think creatively about how to build His Kingdom, and to follow His blueprint that He has outlined for us in His Word? As Peter walked on the water with Jesus even briefly, so it is time with us to begin to step out of the boat and walk with Jesus, even as Peter did and if we fall into of the water, which we will at times fall in the water; it is far past time that we got our heads wet, our hands dirty, for it is time that we pulled up our pants, and our sleeves, and get messy and involved in people’s lives.
When people were with Jesus they were changed even just being around them. All it took for one woman was a touch of Jesus robe and she was healed and changed forever. All it took for the woman at the well was to experience a taste of God’s grace. When people see us they out to see the Christ within us for this is how God views us by looking into our hearts and seeing where the improvements need to be made. Believers are you walking in the wonder of God?
I remember when I was in the Philippines on a missions trip. One of the missionaries walked up to the pulpit and preached such a powerful message from Song of Solomon’s that everyone in the church, which was small, was crying. At the end of the sermon, the Lead Pastor walked up to the pulpit and just started praising God. I remember being around this Pastor more than two years ago now, his passion for God was contagious and more than that his zeal for souls was astonishing. When the lost heard the words the Holy Spirit was speaking through him hearts were melted and people repented right there on the street. We were playing a basketball game and after the basketball game, this Pastor preached his sermon. This is right in the middle of a neighborhood in Manila. I remember that this Pastor at the end of the sermon did the salvation call and that everyone there received Jesus. I remember how I felt seeing all those people walk up and receive Christ, because I like that Pastor was in awe of what God was doing. You see I was on the missions’ trip to there not expecting really anything but we were doing something as simple as playing basketball with teenagers which ended up at the end being an evangelistic crusade. This story wasn’t just one instance of such an event when I was there, this was repeated over and over at every place this Pastor preached.
You see our witness does matter, it matters deeply. If we haven’t changed truly inside then others will not change. If a person’s heart is dirty and filthy and they are not taking care of there faith then what point is that faith really and truly? If the focus of there heart isn’t upon pleasing God then what is? Pleasing man? Pleasing the world? Becoming successful? Our world will be turn apart and thrown asunder when He comes again everything tested through fire in our lives, and at a heart level we feel that our possessions and everything we own will survive the fire of an Almighty God? Perhaps you are starting to see that walking in the wonder of God is more than just necessary it is scary. It requires commitment something our world is deadly afraid of, but it is time. It is time that as believers we embraced the rugged nail ridden Cross and instead of poking at the blood stained Cross, embraced its jagged edges. It is there that we will begin to walk in the wonder of God.
Pastor David Jenkins
