Acts 1: In Defense of Matthias: Some Implications of Judas' Betrayal

The appointment of Matthias did not happen in a vacuum; it happened in the very specific context of the Twelve. One of them is gone, renouncing his office and his life by his own hand.

Before examining the impact of Judas’ betrayal and suicide on the Eleven, let’s examine the special significance of the Twelve by first highlighting the number of individuals identified as holding that office in addition to the Twelve: (i) Barnabas (Acts 14:14); (ii) Paul (Acts 14:!4); (iii) Andronicus (Rom. 16:7); (iv) Junius (Rom. 16:7); (v) Apollos (1 Cor. 4:9); (vi) Timothy (1 Thess. 1:1, 2:6) (vii) SIlas (1 Thess. 1:1, 2:6); (viii) Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25); (ix) James, half brother of Jesus (Gal. 1:19); and (x) and (xi) two unnamed brothers (2 Cor. 8:16-23). This list distinguishes the Twelve from the rest of the apostles. That kind of distinction is not surprising, conceptually anyway. See e.g., 2 Samuel 23 (The Three and the Thirty). But Peter points us to the distinguishing feature of the men who populated the Twelve: “men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 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.”

The Twelve had a much different witness of the resurrection than the 500 mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:6 would, for example, or from these other apostles I have listed. They had first-hand knowledge of how Jesus moved, and lived, and had his being, from John’s Baptism to the Ascension. That was a special and more complete witness, upon which to lay the foundation of the church, when compared to one of the 120 in the upper room who may have come along later during or after Christ’s earthly ministry.

The Twelve had a very important responsibility, and a very important message to share, growing out of their 3 1/2 years with Jesus. Amid all the travels, crowds, and signs and wonders, Jesus invested himself in these Twelve; they would in turn be prepared to similarly invest in the hearts and lives of others, for His glory. Their time with Him was personal and intimate; their experiences with Jesus when shared with others would change lives. But one had now fallen.

Peter says, He was one of us . . . he shared in our ministry. Let’s underscore what that meant by looking at Luke 9:

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick . . . So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

Take that in. Judas was given power and authority and he traveled with his brothers preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere. He ate with them, walked with them, sailed with them, slept under the starry sky with them, and sat together with them at the feet of Jesus. In the end, he betrayed them, and took from them the most important person they had every met. He betrayed their trust, friendship, camaraderie, and everything they had placed their hope in..

As anyone who has been betrayed or forsaken by a friend knows, that is a deeply painful loss. The Twelve were broken, the line had been breached, and Judas jeopardized their whole witness by his treachery.

That raises the question: would they let that treachery stand? With that place at the table left empty, that failure would have to be carried by the Eleven. Judas would be a black mark everyone would see. And that black mark would be easy pickings for the critics of the Way; they could always point to the traitor as a real challenge to the authenticity of good news they were sharing.

But Judas has a different place in the history of the Twelve if his empty seat is filled by someone who occupied the same substantive position albeit without the title. The power of Judas’ treachery would be broken if the apostles are able to move on. The memory might remain, but the sting of it would be gone with a powerful substitute of God’s own choosing.

The filling of Judas’ place with another witness rooted in the earthly ministry of Christ would shift all of the blame and condemnation back where it belongs back to Judas alone. The apostles would not have to carry any taint from his betrayal; it would be on him only. And they could disclaim all his acts.

Peter acknowledged that the Scripture confines the black mark to Judas; but the appointment of Matthias confirms it forever. And the appointment of Matthias represents an unequivocal renunciation of everything Judas did, and an absolute and deeply hopeful rejection of any purported impact his treachery may have on the progress of the Gospel moving forward.

The appointment of Matthias answers the critics this way: what Judas has done, he has done, on his own account. We have the Twelve . . . intact.