Acts 1:12-26 is the calm before the storm. It is the short time between Jesus going up to heaven and the Holy Spirit coming to God's people.
It seems to me an odd text. The Kingdom is on the verge of exploding onto the scene, and those who would usher it in are having a board meeting to elect Matthias to Judas' office (NASB uses that word). It seems so insignificant, because we never hear from Matthias again. I think there is something about him in church history, but I'm not sure what.
How much do we make out of the fact that this is the church minus the Holy Spirit? Should we be casting lots to clarify God's will?
I really like v. 14 (also see Luke 24:52-53). On a whole, the lesson here might be about knowing what season it is. Is it time to till the soil in preparation (to devote ourselves to prayer, praise, fellowship; and to get your administrative ducks in a row) or is it time to reap (day of Pentacost)?
6 comments:
What an illustration of much that goes on in churches. After recieving the call and the challange to go out, they instead come together to discuss administrative stuff. Churches that truly accept the calling and the power of the Holy Spirit go out. Those that don't talk about it.
I certainly thought of that, but verses 4 and 5 seem to let them off the hook. Jesus tells them to wait, and they are waiting.
Luke has a real emphasis here (and throughout) on the importance of the apostles. Perhaps we needed twelve to be the new patriarchs for the new Israel.
I also thought it odd that they were so selective of who would be a witness. Aren't we all to be witnesses. Yet, Luke only uses the word (except when speaking of false witnesses), when speaking of apostles.
Thanks for joining the conversation soaringeagle. You have some good questions. The problem is that the text does not tell us that God led this selection. They quote Scripture. They pray. But nowhere does it say, "and God led them", or anything like that. All that means is that we cannot be certain one way or the other.
My feeling is that it probably was God-led and therefore the right thing to do. I think this because of the very high regard that Luke seems to have for the apostles.
By the way, congratulations soaringeagle on winning proposal 1. That should limit the competition.
I have heard it taught on by Jon Courson(http://www.joncourson.com/) that perhaps Matthias wasnt the one that God intended at all to take the place of Judas, but that the disciples jumped the gun by casting lots and selecting him. He suggests that perhaps that 12th appostle really is Paul, selected by God along the road. Just some thoughts there.
Just because something is mentioned in the bible, it doesnt mean its a pure example of what we are to do or be doing. God can and did inspire words to be written about acts of disobediance, pride and man's misunderstanding of who He is as well. Remember there are a lot of sinful acts recorded in the bible and times when man took it upon himself to try to "fix" a situation rather than wait on God. The casting of lots was an OT way of figuring out the spirit, with the coming of the Holy Spirit in each of us-things changed. You do not see in the rest of the NT the practice of casting lots as the disciples did that day to determine the will of God through the spirit.
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