Acts 1:13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it'; and "'Let another take his office.' 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
The Problem Created by Judas' Suicide (1:13-20)
The apostles go back to the very place they last communed with Jesus: in the Upper Room. Remember, in that same room he gave them the Lord's Supper.
13 And when they had entered, [Jerusalem] they went up to the upper room, [which was in a house very close to the Temple, as we will see next chapter] where they were staying, [It appears to be in a larger home where they are all lodging. But notice what Luke, by the Spirit, does. He doesn't just mention that the church comes back. He simply gives us the names of the apostles. And a simple count will lead us to conclude to the bad number of 11, not 12.] Peter and John and James and Andrew, (4) Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, (8) James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. (11) [No Thaddeus. Actually, Thaddeus is there, because his Jewish name was more than likely Judas. But, no … Judas Iscariot! That had to be conscious on the minds and hearts of the apostles. They had never suspected Judas. And Luke wants you to feel the sense of … "but there should be 12!" The sense of disappointment is valid here. It's not supposed to be this way. Well, it is, in the sense that providentially speaking God has crafted this situation. But, as far as the ideals of being the continuing church, it isn't: there should be 12. 12 apostles as the continuation of Israel which was made of 12 tribes. Theological symbols matter. 11 wont cut it. There must be 12 to be the continuing church.
But, unlike modern American spirituality, they didn't interpret Jesus' command to "wait" as twiddling their thumbs, sitting a metaphorical rocking chair "waiting" to be acted upon. No, they're waiting was very active.] 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, [They are spending their time communing with the resurrected and ascended Jesus. They are praying both individually and corporately. They miss their Savior, their mentor. He was the one who told them to wait. So how will they wait? By waiting in his presence, in prayer, in communion with him. Afterall, now that Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the throne, they are represented by him to the Father, have access to the Father through Him, and have communion with their God by faith. And, they all did it. It wasn't "the prayer warriors of the apostles." It was all of them. The spiritual children that we saw in the gospels are now maturing, waiting and biding their time in prayer. Do you know what this is!? It's the first prayer service of the church!
When you have to wait, when you have a big decision, when you need discernment, when things according to God's Word and agenda just don't seem quite right - where do you run? Netflix? YouTube? Games? Old reruns? Do you seek pastoral advice first, before you run to your Lord and Savior, in both private and corporate prayer? Do you treat technology, foods, drugs, sin as that which grounds your soul? You're violating the first commandment if you do. You're placing something else, or someone else, over resting in your God and Savior. Or, do you run to Christian friends, counselors, pastors? That's all well and good. But have you considered you might be using the church and her officers as an excuse to not to run to Christ in communing prayer? I know what you're thinking, "I would never!" Yes, you would. Because we all do it. And I'll prove it. How many of us when we are vexed, waiting in faith and hope, love, love, love, CORPORATE PRAYER with the saints!? Almost none of us. How is your prayer life? How necessary to your spiritual health do you think corporate prayer is? You see, you thought corporate prayer was just something the Western Church made up to bore their congregations to tears. Not so. Corporate prayer is an ordinance, a blessed institution in the kingdom of Christ, by King Jesus. We see it here, and we'll see it again at the end of chapter two, but do you see it in your own lives? Come back for our corporate prayer service. They prayed because it was in prayer they had communion in Christ and the rest of their souls. Prayer isn't powerful. The God who answers prayer, who communes with us in prayer, IS THE MESSIAH. HE is power. And he communes with us as we pray. You were made for prayer.
But, these men weren't just praying by themselves, or with each other, but were …] together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. [Even Jesus' unbelieving family members now see the only way to commune with him is through faith in prayer! How amazing. In the gospels they are skeptics. But now, they are believers.
Now, this situation wasn't just for an afternoon. The apostles were coming in and out of the Upper Room. Remember, Jesus was with them … FOR FORTY DAYS. And there are fifty days between his death and Pentecost. So, they are in this state in Jerusalem for about ten days. They are coming in and out, devoting themselves to prayer, to each other, and to the Word, as we will see in a second. Because …] 15 In those days [that is, in the ten days between Jesus' ascension in 1:9 and Pentecost in chapter two] Peter stood up [the obvious problem above must be addressed.] among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) [and again, while I don't place a lot of emphasis on numerology, the fact that there's 120, a clear multiple of 12 should scream to you: ISRAEL (12 tribes (Old Testament), 12 apostles (New Testament), 120 people). But there is a problem, and it must be fixed. It's beautifully strange to see the young Christian (Peter), who was brash and cowardly in the recent past, in less than ten days of being around the resurrected Jesus, and after Jesus went and sat on high, that now, Peter is "the Problem Solver" of the bunch.] and said, 16 "Brothers, [the 120 with the other ten apostles.] the Scripture had to be fulfilled, [Whatever he says next happened because the Scriptures are true. What happened was not an accident. But it was prophesied of in the Old Testament. And their fulfillment is more important than the church's discomfort with, or the loss of, Judas' life.] which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David [Notice what Peter believes about the Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. He believes the Holy Spirit breathed out the Old Testament. He believes the holy Spirit is a person. And that He spoke by the prophets. King David regularly spoke prophetically. About what? …] concerning Judas, [this would be Judas Iscariot. The one who murdered himself. And that's what all suicide is. It is self-murder. It is a sinful act. It is a faithless act. It violates the commandment, "you shall not murder."
We live in a society today that is not willing oftentimes to give self-murder a moral quality anymore. I'm sure they'll try to rebrand it sound better: life-averse, or something. But not only is suicide clearly sinful, but even self-murdering thoughts are sinful. If self-murder is wrong, then desiring, planning, or approving of self-murder is iniquity against God. And therefore, don't look at Judas and say "I would never."
Firstly, you've had sinfully murderous thoughts every time you've gotten angry. But secondly, if you've even imagined your life, your friends, your family, your work, without you, you've had a suicidal thought. Now, on the one hand, I think most people who deal with sin seriously have had thoughts of suicide. But, on the other hand, Jesus atoned for them. More than that Jesus' righteous thought-world is imputed to us. You're treated by the Father, before the law of God, as though you've only ever had righteous thoughts about life. In fact, we are cleansed in mind by the power of the Spirit with the Word. We therefore don't have to give ourselves over to the hopelessness or faithlessness of such dark thoughts.
But Peter is saying, the Scripture do judge this as sin.
And Judas murdered himself because, it was he …] who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. [Judas, as we saw back in Matthew, betrayed Jesus with an act of fidelity, with the symbol of a kiss. His disloyalty came in the symbol of loyalty. That's how hard his heart was. You can only imagine the hurt, the pain, and the sadness that the apostles felt at Judas for his betrayal of their Messiah. And yet, none of that hurt comes up here. Instead, if the Scriptures had to be fulfilled in Judas, who betrayed Jesus, then the Scriptures even more clearly had to be fulfilled in Jesus.
And while it's no less heart-breaking, it means Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension, was planned by God and foretold.
And now, finally, after Jesus' ascension, they are maturing in their response to what happened.
And it means Judas' loss to the apostles is also planned. Their being eleven was not a setback, or shock for God.
Your big sins, your small sins, are not a shock to God. It may be to you. But it's not to him.
He's written his Scriptures, and given salvation in such a way, so as to provide grace, removal, repentance, cleansing for your absolutely worst sins.] 17 For [here's Peter's point] he [Judas] was numbered among us [that is among the apostles] and was allotted his share in this ministry." [That is, he too had received an endowment from the Holy Spirit of gifts for his function. Did you notice how when the 72 went out two by two, Judas didn't come back saying, "Hey, Jesus, my gifts didn't work." It wasn't because he was really a believer and you can lose your salvation - no. It's because the kingdom of God is filled with wheat and tares; with believers and unbelievers. Jesus called Judas "the Son of Perdition." He was elected to be hardened in his sin. Yet, he wasn't just part of the kingdom; he was an one of the twelve apostles. But that means the Holy Spirit is not just poured out on believers, but on those pretending to be believers in the kingdom.
Are you pretending? This is how when there are people who have been anchors of the church, instrumental in your salvation and growth, yet they fall away from the church after a while, that while that is dreadfully sad, it shouldn't cause you to lose faith. Because Jesus really equipped them with gifts and abilities, but you were more alive to Christ in receiving the benefit of them, than they were in using them. You've heard me say, "Don't assume every PCA pastor is regenerate." Many beloved pastors have been caught in adultery and murdered themselves. Many stay forty years, retire, collect retirement benefits, but don't know Jesus personally. Many have been used by the Lord, but are dead in their trespasses and sins.
Judas too shared in the ministry, and was gifted. But wait … that means something.
If an officer can pretend; if even an apostle can fake it … then what about you? Could you not be faking this whole thing? Of course you could. We are pretty self-deceived and deceptive people. We can learn the lingo. We talk with the best of them. We can hear sermons then live however we want. We can have certain emotions on Sunday, and then shove them aside Monday through Saturday. We might even lead a gospel-oriented Bible Study, lead marriage retreats, and disciple others. Jesus saw Judas was faking it. Do you not think he doesn't see you? He does. He sees into your soul. He knows the difference between your fake thoughts and your real thoughts. But Judas doesn't have the opportunity to do what you may do now: Repent. Genuinely repent of your sin. Judas is burning in hell. You don't have to. Repent of your worldly thoughts. Because Judas gave himself over them. His shame led him to greater sin.]
18 (Now this man [Judas] acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, [Judas bought a field with his blood money. And there in that field he tied a rope and hung himself. Its reasonable that after a few days in heat that his body could so decompose that] falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. [That's pretty disgusting. Why would Luke, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible have those details in there for us to read?
Is it not to show the cursed state of Judas? Is it not to deter you or anyone from faking following Christ? Is it not as a warning to all fake Christians? These actions are not kept private. They get out.]
19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) [Every time people would pass by, they'd think of Judas infamous actions, and his being cursed by God.
Is that what we will remember of each other?] "Oh, he was a good chap, but made a shipwreck of his faith on the rocks of hypocrisy." [Will every time we think of each other be disappointment!? When we think of your time serving in the church as a teacher, a servant, a deacon, an elder, a pastor, will our thought be a call to sadness; a warning?
Because Judas left the eleven apostles in a biblically diagnosed precarious position.] 20 "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'May his camp become desolate, …" [His office - one of the twelve apostles - has been vacated. There's now eleven. But the church can't move forward with just eleven apostles. But, the Scriptures, being sufficient, diagnose not just the problem, but the solution ….] and let there be no one to dwell in it'; and "'Let another take his office.' [So, through prayer meetings, searching the Scripture, implementing them, and Christ approving and blessing their actions they realize … they need another apostle: a new "12th", to continue to be the continuing Israel.]
The Problem Created by Judas' Suicide