Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
The reading we heard this morning from the first chapter of Acts tracks chronologically with where we are in the church calendar. Acts, as you probably know, is a sequel to Luke, written by the same author. The end of Luke describes Jesus’ death and resurrection and recounts several post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples. It is Luke who tells the story of the resurrected Christ appearing to several disciples along the road to Emmaus. Then later Jesus appears to all of the disciples gathered in Jerusalem. The next event is Jesus’ ascension when Jesus in bodily form left the earth to be with God in heaven. The ascension is described at the very end of Luke and again in the opening verses of Acts, just before the reading we heard today. In the church calendar we celebrated Jesus’ ascension this past Thursday. The next event described in Acts is the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We’ll celebrate Pentecost next Sunday. So today’s story places us, appropriately, between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost.
So one way to look at this story is to see it as the first thing the disciples did on their own without the physical presence or direct guidance of Jesus. It tells about choosing Matthias to fill the vacancy left by Judas’ death. Discussions of this passage often focus on how Matthias was chosen and what particular qualities recommended him for inclusion as a disciple.
But I had a new insight this week into how difficult and challenging this situation must have been for Peter and the other disciples. I hadn’t really thought before about the impact of Judas’ betrayal on the other disciples and the early Christian community. How did Judas’ betrayal of Jesus affect the other disciples?
We know Judas, of course, only as “the betrayer.” Judas’ sole identity for us is as the one who betrayed Jesus. But the disciples knew him before. He was “one of the twelve,” chosen by Jesus for this special calling. As Peter says in Acts, “Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus … was one of our number and shared in our ministry” (Acts 1:16-7). They were comrades in this new and exciting and holy ministry. For years, they had closely shared their lives with one another. They would have known each other well. Throughout his earthly ministry when Jesus sent out disciples to preach, teach, and heal, Judas was among them.
Judas betrayed Jesus, but he also was a traitor to the other disciples.
What was it like for them? Those of us with some awareness of modern psychology can only imagine! The second guessing of the past, anger, confusion and frustration, a profound sense of personal betrayal.
So the disciples find themselves as a crucial time, wondering how to move into the future without Jesus. And then they have the emotional complications of Judas’ betrayal and death. Judas’ death also left their number incomplete. The twelve disciples, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, the fullness of God’s people… That completeness was incomplete.
And it was Judas they needed to replace.
The uncertainty, complicated feelings and situation, could easily have been paralyzing.
What did they have? What did they have to help as they tried to look to the future?
They had the memories of their own experiences with Jesus, the faith and conviction they had gained while with him. And they had his commission, his words commissioning them for a future. Several accounts tell of Jesus’ words to the disciples just before his ascension. In Acts, Jesus says: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The great commission of Matthew is probably more familiar. There, before Jesus ascends he says: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 27:19-20).
Go. Go forward. Witness to me. Baptize and make disciples. To the ends of the earth.
Given what the disciples faced at this crucial time, it seems to me that it is miraculous that the early Christian movement survived. It is truly miraculous that the Christian movement survived and moved forward.
They had Jesus’ commission. They also had corporate prayer. Luke and Acts tell us that after Jesus ascension the disciples came together and were constantly in prayer. Praying together. And surely in the corporate prayer they found healing and direction. And, although we don’t celebrate Pentecost until next Sunday, I think the Holy Spirit was already afoot, inspiring and enabling the disciples. They were, in a sense, resurrected given new life as the Body of Christ. To carry Jesus proclamation, healing and reconciliation forward into the world.
We are their heirs. We are also their successors, called to witness to Christ in our world.
There’s a wonderful prayer for the church in the Book of Common Prayer. It occurs in the ordination services. It also appears in the intercessions on Good Friday, when we reflect upon Jesus’ hopes for his followers. Let us pray:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
