1. The Waiting Game (vv.12-14)
How good are you at waiting? Sometimes it can be very frustrating. The apostles had been told by Jesus to wait for the gift of the Father to come upon them. After the heady days that followed his resurrection, they were to now just to wait. How long they weren't told.
These verses tell us how they responded to what Jesus said. There are 2 things in particular that stand out in:
i) They were obedient to the word of Jesus. They went and waited. In vv.12-14 we see the 11 apostles and 120 other believers waiting for Jesus word to come true (v.15).
It is always tempting to try to rush things, to draw our own conclusions, second guessing the Lord and forging ahead. But these early believers model for us the correct response to God's word to us. They did what he said.
In all sorts of situations, we may feel tempted to do otherwise but it is always foolish to ignore or go against what the Lord has clearly said. They were in no doubt what Jesus had said; his word to us in the Bible is equally clear and must be similarly obeyed.
We may try to justify disobedience where we feel the issues are not all that important - does it really matter that God has said this or that? No doubt these disciples could have thought the same, yet they didn't. And the issue was not trivial; it had to do with the next phase in God's great plan of salvation.
His ways, not ours, are always best. Obedience is never a trivial matter.
ii) They prayed the word of Jesus. Having been promised the gift of the Father, they went and spent their time together in prayer. We aren't told what they prayed for but it is more than reasonable to assume that what they had just been told formed the basis for their prayers.
God's revealed will and his promises do not preclude prayer; in fact, they should be the means by which prayer is encouraged and strengthened. They both compel us to pray and give us confidence in our praying.
But notice too the character of their prayer. It was both united and persevering. They were together not just in body but in spirit too. There was a unity to their praying; their hearts were fixed on the same things, eager for the glory of God, enjoying his grace to them in the Lord Jesus (cf. Phil. 1:27; 2:2).
And they prayed not just once but "constantly". They had a particular focus in mind but we are often reminded of our need to pray constantly, to express our utter dependence on the Lord and our desire to see him honoured and his kingdom come.
Nothing hinders prayer so much as disunity among the people of God and a lack of concern for his honour. Where we are out of fellowship with each other or lukewarm about the glory of God, prayer will be marginalised and will fail to be at the heart of life together.
This time was clearly a one-off in the experience of the early church but united, believing prayer most certainly was not a one-off. We have much to learn from them.
They obeyed the word, they prayed the word.
2. Keeping Numbers Up (vv.15-26)
The second main section in this passage deals with the action they took to replace Judas and so to bring the number of apostles back up to 12. We're going to look at why they did that and how they set about it.
i) Why the need for 12 apostles? Was this just a desire to have things back as they were during Jesus' time with them - the kind of thinking that always says, 'It was better before"? No. This was an action prompted by reflection on scripture and for the sake of their God-given task.
The number 12 had been significant in Jesus' mind as he called the disciples to follow him. It was a deliberate echo of the 12 tribes of Israel and was intended to signify that through the ministry of Jesus, a new Israel, the true Israel, was being formed. Those who constituted the true Israel were those who followed Jesus. The number was symbolic and significant.
Following Judas' defection and death by suicide, the number of the apostles had been reduced and lacked that symbolism. The Lord Jesus had told them back in Lk. 22:28-30 that they were to have a significant role with respect to the Jews. They would judge the 12 tribes of Israel, sharing the authority of Jesus. That probably refers to their ministry of preaching the gospel among the Jews and, with that in mind, the symbolism needed to be restored.
So this was an action governed by their understanding of their role in the light of scripture. It was, of course, a unique time in the history of salvation and unrepeatable (they didn't repeat it when James was martyred and their number reduced again).
But there is a lesson for us here. Our understanding of the role and task of the church is to be understood from scripture, not from the fads and fashions of our time.
ii) How to know God's Will - This passage is also helpful in how they filled the gap. As we've said, scripture played a vital part in the whole process. God has spoken and what he has said must be taken seriously and allowed to inform the whole of our approach to life as believers and as a church.
Then they committed the whole matter to God in prayer (v.24). They wanted to do his will. They wanted him to lead them and to make plain what they should do. They knew the principles but they needed specific guidance on who to choose.
They knew another was needed who had the qualifications of an apostle (had been with Jesus and witnessed the reality of the resurrection) and they put 2 men forward who met those requirements. But they put the matter of choosing into God's hands.
We must always recognise that the work of the church, of the gospel, is Jesus' work. It is his will we seek and are to submit to. We act on principle and have a part to play but ultimately the whole project is his, he is the head and he directs the work.
But how does he direct it? Here they cast lots, an action with sound OT pedigree (Prov. 16:33), but not one that is repeated in the NT. This action was pre-Pentecost; after the coming of the Spirit, the choosing was done by believers as they were guided by God's Spirit (cf. Acts 13:2,3; 14:23; 15:2,28; Tit. 1:5).
How is that guidance mediated? By enabling us to grasp the principles of scripture and then to see their application in the particular situation.
They wanted to honour the Lord Jesus in the task he had given them; they searched the scriptures for help; they relied upon the Lord to direct and help them. May the same ever be true of us. Amen.
