Matthias and the 120 – Acts 1

   
A text – Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said,
1:16 “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus —
1:17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”
1:21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
1:22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”
1:23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
1:24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen
1:25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
1:26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

A reflection:

On February 24 or, alternatively on May 14, the church celebrates the feast day of St Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot sometime between Easter and the Pentecost dramatic arrival and blessing by the Holy Spirit.

Details of Matthias’s life are not at all clear. Even his death is ambiguous: it could have been in Jerusalem by stoning and then beheading, or by stoning in the region of Colchis in the modern-day Asian nation of Georgia.

What is clear from this story is that all 120 of the human beings following Jesus closely, especially the original remaining 11 disciples, wanted a person who had traveled and lived with them from the beginning to round out the number to 12. That company of followers chose two worthy candidates, and then they let the Lord decide which one was to be commissioned. Matthias was chosen.

Wait! There were over a hundred followers of Jesus who went back to the earliest days of Jesus’s ministry. That is a most wonderful fact! God was stirring hearts and minds from the very start, so that when Jesus’s death happened, despite how alone the 12 disciples would have felt, there was a small army of followers supporting them and ready to lend their bodies and spirits to the work of the Messiah.

How often do we forget the great cloud of witnesses that support and undergird our own lives? How often do we forget that there are folks at the edges of our lives who would be happy to be called upon if we need them? These people are gifts in our lives, and like Matthias, they can step in when we need someone. Pay attention. God is so good that we have been provided more than we need. This is what it is to have life and have it abundantly.

A prayer:

Lord God of all, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the story of Matthias and the 120 followers that were there but often get overlooked.  Thank you for providing so abundantly for us, daily, weekly, monthly, and our whole lives long.    Amen.