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Free Acts commentary

Daniel9v9

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Hey, for the last few years, I've been sponsored by the church to digitise and amplify a commentary series, and I've just completed the one on Acts. You can find it here:

I pray it may serve you well!
 

CurtUtter

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Daniel, I would like to ask a question regarding Acts 1:21-26 commentary, the choosing of Matthias. We often read this as a man who is always in a hurry to fulfill what our Lord and Savior may not have ordained. We do not ponder that He told them to wait in Jerusalem because they'd be Baptized with the Holy Spirit, not days from now. That's like 10 days. Yet Peter, the rock on which Christ would build his church, returns to his "immediate" plans of needing to fill the void that Judas left. We see Judas as the ultimate betrayer, yet all of them were in the same camp when Jesus was arrested. Only John returned (was repented) (John 19:26-28), and he was blessed with taking care of Mary in his return. Hence, we can summarize that John was given the prophecy in John 21:20-22 for that reason.

No commentaries address that Matthias may or may not have been the apostle to replace Judas. Jesus Christ chose many "12th" men, as he did with Saul-turned-Paul and even his brothers, James and Jude. Is there any information on Matthias going forward other than what Foxe's book of Martyrs states of him being stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded?

Do we tend not to place this in commentaries because it may be conjecture?
 
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CurtUtter

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Very nearly all of that is conjecture...!
So is all commentaries if we want to get the root of it.

Still, read the Word with an eye on Genesis 6:5, (I know, we aren't suppose to take individual verses but that verse points to many others) there is nothing saying that "in this life" we don't suffer for that. The first church was infallible. But we today like to prop it up as it was.
 
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Daniel9v9

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Thank you very much for the question and my apologies for the delayed response!

I think the reason why there is a lack of commentary on Matthias, specifically, is because we sadly don't know much about him. There are no other mentions of him in the NT, and references to him outside the Bible are dubious or obviously confused.

Now, there are a lot of commentary about the replacement of Judas in general, but I'm not sure how much definite we can say about it. As you've mentioned, some have suggested that Paul was intended as the twelfth. While possible, I personally find the view uncharitable, because in the case of Paul and Barnabas, they were commissioned by the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Acts 13:1-3; Acts 22:21), whereas the twelve were specifically commissioned for Israel (Galatians 2:9), so that the Gospel came to the house of Israel first, then to the Gentiles, which is one of the core themes of Acts and throughout the NT.

As for other candidates, James the brother of our Lord evidently didn't receive Jesus as the Messiah during His ministry (John 7:5), but thanks be to God, he was granted repentance and even became the head of the church of Israel, and with Peter and John are called "pillars" of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:3-11; Galatians 2:9).

However, neither Paul nor James fit the requirements for the office of the twelve laid down in Acts 1, which expresses that the replacement had to be a close follower of Jesus from the beginning, from the baptism of John until the ascension. Now, we don't know where this requirement comes from other than that it is a prophecy by the Holy Spirit, so I think we'll do well to receive it as such. And we don't know how many men were technically eligible for this office, but the Church saw it fit to suggest two candidates (the fact that there were only two, contrary to some commentaries, suggests to me that there were literally only two eligible), and they then cast lots according to the OT practice, and Matthias was chosen.

It may be helpful to consider that there is no rebuke, sad consequence, or any negative writing about the choosing of Matthias in the Biblical account itself. Beyond this, there are perhaps three things that may be good to reflect on:

(1) The Holy Spirit is always given and never fully possessed. We always receive God's gift of the Holy Spirit, who works in our minds and hearts, conforming us into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to us in different ways and equips us with different gifts for different vocations. The apostles already had the gift of the Holy Spirit, even before Pentecost, because Jesus breathed on them after the resurrection in John 20:19-23. So, it's in accordance with the Holy Spirit indwelling in Peter and the other apostles, all the 120, and in the written Word that's quoted, that the need for a replacement is brought forth. So, at least my understanding is that the better reading is not that Peter is anxious, but that the Holy Spirit worked through His Church.

(2) The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, from the perspective of the apostles, has to do with the gift of charisma, spiritual gifts. And this was given to Matthias, thereby showing God's approval.

(3) God calls prophets and apostles directly, but the way He calls servants to the pastoral office is through His Church. I think we can see Matthias as a kind of a bridge, because he was undoubtedly called by Jesus during His ministry, otherwise he wouldn't fit the requirements for the apostolic office, but he was also chosen by the Holy Spirit through the Church, which is the same way all pastors are chosen to serve. So, this is to say that the Church choosing a man to serve is not sinful, but in fact good and commanded by God.

In brief, I think the natural reading is simply that Judas fell away, but there were two candidates eligible to replace him, and that this was in accordance with God's Word. And then we do see that God does indeed grant Matthias the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, affirming that He is chosen by God to serve Him. And though we don't know much, if anything, about Matthias' life and ministry, we can be certain that he proclaimed Christ and helped lay a good foundation for us to stand on, so thanks be to God!
 
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CurtUtter

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In brief, I think the natural reading is simply that Judas fell away, but there were two candidates eligible to replace him, and that this was in accordance with God's Word. And then we do see that God does indeed grant Matthias the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, affirming that He is chosen by God to serve Him. And though we don't know much, if anything, about Matthias' life and ministry, we can be certain that he proclaimed Christ and helped lay a good foundation for us to stand on, so thanks be to God!
Thank you for your response; it was greatly appreciated. I concur that a lot isn't said, but what do we take as the intervention of God in the lives of men for God's good? (Studying concupiscence is pointing me more towards a low anthropology.)

An observation on Judas is a sad ending that many sects are ignorant of, yet it points back to Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve; man's self-centeredness and reliance on "self" is the death of all men. Judas, in the end, in Matthew 27:3, repented (μεταμέλομαι), but since he went to the chief priests and elders, who didn't preach to him the gospel (going to the faithless equals doom). Instead, they told him to look inward. Perhaps the worst anyone can do is look inward instead of outward to the preached Word of absolution poured into our ear bulbs, causing our conscience to confess out of our mouths, "Jesus is Lord." Judas' only faithful preacher was locked up; thus, no one, not even the other eleven, would've preached the gospel. It was indeed a time of wrath for the world because God was hidden in the crucifixion timeframe.
 
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Daniel9v9

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Thank you for your response; it was greatly appreciated. I concur that a lot isn't said, but what do we take as the intervention of God in the lives of men for God's good? (Studying concupiscence is pointing me more towards a low anthropology.)

An observation on Judas is a sad ending that many sects are ignorant of, yet it points back to Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve; man's self-centeredness and reliance on "self" is the death of all men. Judas, in the end, in Matthew 27:3, repented (μεταμέλομαι), but since he went to the chief priests and elders, who didn't preach to him the gospel (going to the faithless equals doom). Instead, they told him to look inward. Perhaps the worst anyone can do is look inward instead of outward to the preached Word of absolution poured into our ear bulbs, causing our conscience to confess out of our mouths, "Jesus is Lord." Judas' only faithful preacher was locked up; thus, no one, not even the other eleven, would've preached the gospel. It was indeed a time of wrath for the world because God was hidden in the crucifixion timeframe.

Yeah, that's great!

To sin is sin, but so is the desire to sin (cf. Exodus 20:17; Matthew 5:27-28; 1 John 3:15). We can even put it this way: We're sinners because we sin, but chiefly, we sin because we're sinners. And while Judas did recognise his sin and regretted it, he was led to despair and not to repentance. Peter, on the other hand, repented. So Judas ran away from the Lord, but Peter was restored by Jesus. So, without repentance and faith, there's no salvation, and God is the one who redeems us. Thanks be to God!
 
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