After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Apostles and a little over a hundred others met together often to pray, and of course to talk about everything they had experienced with Jesus over the past three and a half years. Acts 1 tells us that Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. I can only imagine how popular she was in that setting, and how everyone probably wanted to sit at her feet and hear every story of her experiences with her son. Perhaps she started from the annunciation by Gabriel and her virginal conception of Jesus and then moved on to describe His miraculous birth in Bethlehem and how they fled into Egypt for a time to escape the murderous decree of King Herod. I am sure there were many tears shed, as well as the sound of hearty laughter. I can also envision lots of affection shown, accompanied by fervent prayers for each other, and a lot of questions offered to try to cut through the confusion and uncertainty about what the future held for them.
During those forty days following the Resurrection, Peter experienced the amazing forgiveness and restoration for denying the Lord around a charcoal fire and a seaside breakfast provided and served by Jesus Himself. Perhaps Peter was remembering the renewed commission Jesus had given him that morning: “If you love me, Simon, son of Jonah, feed my sheep.” Acts 1 tells us that he stood up and felt the need to say something.
Judas had betrayed Jesus and ended his own life in a bone chilling way. That left only eleven disciples hand-picked by Jesus, and Peter, probably seeing the parallels between the twelve disciples and the twelve tribes of Israel, felt their number was incomplete. It’s also clear that their greatest expectation for their Jewish Messiah was that He “restore the Kingdom to Israel.” It made sense to Peter to take charge and prepare for what they believed was the imminent return of Jesus from Heaven to remove the Roman occupiers and rule as the new King of Kings from David’s throne in Jerusalem. So, how does one do that? Casting lots or throwing dice sounded like a good idea at the time, and Matthias was the lucky winner.
It’s interesting that we never hear Matthias mentioned in the book of Acts ever again. It does not mean that he wasn’t powerfully used by the Lord after that, but Dr. Luke does seem to include this story to contrast what is to come.
In Old Testament days, a mysterious “holy dice” called the "urim and thummim" (translated “light and truth”) were used by the High Priest to determine God’s will in certain situations. Many Rabbis say the urim and thummim were actually the 12 stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel that were mounted on the breastplate of the High Priest. When questions were asked of God with the High Priest wearing his holy attire, the twelve stones were said to shine brightly, indicating God’s instructions by miraculously spelling out and even projecting specific words.
Were any of these stories in Peter’s mind as he felt the need to cast lots to bring the number of inner-circle disciples back up to the sacred number twelve?
We don’t know.
But what we do know from reading the rest of the book of Acts is that our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, does not express His will by the shake of a dice or the shining of miraculous stones. Instead, He communicates the things in His heart by illuminating all His disciples by the Holy Spirit and Scripture.
Pray right now: Father, I thank you for choosing me in Christ to be your disciple and to accomplish good works you have prepared for me to do before I was born. So lead me by your Holy Spirit. Let the affections of my High Priest’s heart shine brightly into my soul and may Your Word always be a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. In the name of Jesus, amen.
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