The verses of Acts 1:12-26 tell us how the people of the church spent their time during the 10 days between the ascension of Christ and the Feast of Pentecost. With the great commission bearing down on them from Jesus and their own personal witness of his resurrection, the disciples spent most of the time praying. During this period, God impressed on Peter’s heart to lead the group in replacing the dead traitor Judas as one of the 12 disciples. He lost his lot among God’s believers, among God’s servants.
Like Judas, others lost their lot to another. Cain lost to Seth, Esau lost Jacob, Eli lost to Samuel, Saul lost to David, and the Israelites lost to the Gentiles. Those who lost their lots had something missing that the replacements possessed. We’re going to look at the qualifications of Matthias as a new disciple.
Matthias was already present among the group even though not recognized officially as a disciple. He was faithful to the cause of Jesus. He had long been a follower of Christ. Fortunately, for him and the rest of the world he was not a Judas type nor was he an official officeholder, but that did not matter to him because he just wanted to serve Jesus. Reflecting back on Judas, he lingered in indecision until the decision made itself.
Matthias already was a man of prayer. We cannot expect God’s leadership or blessing on a particular moment if we prior have not been in prayer. We cannot hurry up and pray at the time that is critical. For us prayer must be routine as part of our life like brushing our teeth. He was a man of self-examination while at the same time was a man of supplication. This, of course, is exactly what we need to do as part of our prayer life. To him, the other disciples and the brothers of Jesus became more vital and significant while he was originally only a follower.
Matthias already had been practicing the work of a disciple without the recognition. There are those people who seek a position for recognition. This was not the case for the believer under our discussion. There, in the upper room, 120 people prayed intently. They may not have known exactly what to pray for other than safety and protection. They did know that Jesus said to tarry. Being led by God, they looked for a creative way to fill the empty position left by Judas. They cast lots as a means by which God would tell them the identity of the new disciple.
Matthias already had been prepared to serve God. He was open to God’s leadership. He was ready and willing to step forward. All he needed was God’s call. He was redeemed or saved from his sin prior to that day. He set his eyes to the future. Never would he allow himself to be distracted. This man was bold, unafraid, and intent on following God’s leadership. Just because Matthias was taken does not mean that the other choice named Joseph, called Barsabas, whose surname was Justus, was a loser. In fact, Joseph went on to do great things for God. Matthias, as well as Joseph, are an example to us to be in a position for God’s call. This is a challenge asking each person reading this paper, how ready are you for God to select you to a special or unique cause? How ready are you for God to use you?
Christian Writer 