²¹”Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— ²²beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” ²³So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen ²⁵to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Why was it necessary to replace Judas? Why not just go with eleven apostles? Jesus appointed twelve apostles to be His messengers (Matt. 10:1–5). And it does not escape notice that twelve is the number of the tribes of Israel. Jesus Himself made this connection when He told the apostles:

“. . . when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt. 19:28b)

Peter makes the connection and leads the company in the replacement process. He had picked up on what Jesus intended for the twelve, which we now see in Acts, particularly Acts 1:8, “You shall be my witnesses . . .” And he asserts that the role of apostleship was defined by God and was a specific ministry of twelve. He understood that these twelve are Jesus’ official witnesses of His life and teaching. We see this in Luke’s first description of the church: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . .” (Acts 2:42). Jesus did not leave an autobiography or a book of His teachings, but He appointed twelve apostles as the authoritative representatives of our Lord’s life, death, and teachings to the church.

The criterion for identifying the twelfth apostle was simple: he had to have been a faithful follower and eyewitness of Christ from His baptism through the resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:6) and the ascension. That means he would come from among the one hundred and twenty in the upper room. The wisdom Peter shown here becomes his trademark leadership approach: identify the relevant principle first and then act upon it (e.g. Acts 6). They found two men who qualified equally for the position, so they turned to God to further clarify His choice of men. While many have struggled over finding God’s will through arbitrary black-and-white tests, Luke simply describes what the apostles did, without any justification. They simply did what, in their wisdom, seemed a natural thing to do. So, Matthias was identified as God’s choice.

Lord, help me understand and obey Your sovereign guidance in my life.