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Acts 1:15-17, 20-26

The Election of Matthias

[15] In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons
was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, [16] “Brethren, the scripture
had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David,
concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. [17] For he was
numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. [20] For it is
written in the Book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let there
be no one to live in it’; and ‘His office let another take.’

[21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the
Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [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 surnamed
Justus, and Matthias. [24] And they prayed and said, “Lord, who knowest the
hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast 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 had cast lots for them, and the lot fell on
Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven Apostles.

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Commentary:

15-23. “Peter is the ardent and impetuous Apostle to whom Christ entrusted the
care of His flock; and since he is first in dignity, he is the first to speak” (Chry-
sostom, “Hom. on Acts”, 3).

Here we see Peter performing his ministry. Events will make for the gradual
manifestation of the supreme role of government which Christ entrusted to him.
His is a ministry of service—he is the “servus servorum Dei”, the servant of the
servants of God—a ministry given to none other, different from all other ministries
in the Church. Peter will carry it out in solidarity with his brothers in the Aposto-
late and in close contact with the whole Church represented here in the 120
brethren around him.

This account of Peter with the other Apostles and disciples all brought together
is described by St. John Chrysostom in these words: “Observe the admirable
prudence of St. Peter. He begins by quoting the authority of a prophet and does
not say, ‘My own word suffices,’ so far is he from any thought of pride. But he
seeks nothing less that the election of a 12th Apostle and he presses for this.
His entire behavior shows the degree of his authority and that he understood the
apostolic office of government not as a position of honor but as a commitment to
watch over the spiritual health of those under him.

“The disciples were one hundred and twenty, and Peter asks for one of these.
But he it is who proposes the election and exercises the principal authority
because he has been entrusted with the care of all”(”Hom. on Acts”, 3).

21-22. The Apostles are witnesses “par excellence” of Jesus’ public life. The
Church is “apostolic” because it relies on the solid testimony of people specially
chosen to live with our Lord, witnessing His works and listening to His words.
The twelve Apostles certify that Jesus of Nazareth and the risen Lord are one and
the same person and that the words and actions of Jesus preserved and passed
by the Church are indeed truly reported.

Everyone who maintains unity with the Pope and bishops in communion with him
maintains unity with the Apostles and, through them, with Jesus Christ Himself.
“Orthodox teaching has been conserved by being passed on successively since
the time of the Apostles and so it has remained up to the present in all the
churches. Therefore, only that teaching can be considered true which offers no
discord with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition” (Origen, “De Principiis”, Pre-
face, 2). See the note on Acts 1:26.

24-26. Verses 24-25 record the first prayer of the Church, which is linked with
what we were told in verse 14—”all these with one accord devoted themselves to
prayer”—and shows the disciples’ firm belief that God rules over all things and all
events and looks after the Church in a very special way.

The Christian community leaves in God’s hands the choice as to who will fill the
empty place in the Twelve. It does this by using traditional Hebrew method of
casting lots, the outcome of which will reveal God’s will. This method of divining
God’s will is to be found quite a number of times in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Sa-
muel 14:41f); its use was restricted to Levites, to prevent it degenerating into a
superstitious practice. In casting lots the Jews used dice, sticks, pieces of paper,
etc. each bearing the name of the candidate for an office, or of people suspected
of having committed some crime, etc. Lots were cast as often as necessary to
fill the number of places to be filled or the suspected number of criminals.

In this instance they decide to cast lots because they consider that God has
already made His choice and all that remains is for Him to make His will known:
His decision can be ascertained unerringly by using this simple human device.
This method of appointing people, borrowed from Judaism, did not continue to be
used in the church for very long.

Now that Matthias has been appointed the Twelve is complete again. The Apos-
tolic College is now ready to receive the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to
send, and to go on to bear universal witness to the Good News.

26. St. Luke usually applies the term “apostles” only to the Twelve (cf., for exam-
ple, Acts 6:6), or the Eleven plus Peter, who appears as head of the Apostolic
College (cf. 2:14). Except in Acts 14:14, Luke never describes St. Paul as an
Apostle—not because he minimizes Paul’s role (indeed, half the chapters of Acts
deal with Paul) but because he reserves to the Twelve the specific function of
being witnesses to our Lord’s life on earth.

This apostolic character or apostolicity is one of the marks of the true Church of
Christ—a Church built, by the express wish of its Founder, on the solid basis of
the Twelve.

The “St. Pius V Catechism” (I, 10, 17) teaches that “the true Church is also to
be recognized from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace
to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard
of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire
world. [...] That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the
Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word ‘apostolic’. For
the Holy Spirit, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers
than those of apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles,
has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church.”

The principal role of the Apostles is to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus
(cf. 1:22). They perform it through the ministry of the word (6:4), which takes
various forms, such as preaching to the people (cf. 2:14-40; 3:12-26; 4:2, 33;
5:20-21), teaching the disciples within the Christian community itself (2:42), and
declarations uttered fearlessly against the enemies and persecutors of the Gos-
pel of Jesus (4:5-31; 5;27-41). Like the word of the Lord, that of the Apostles is
supported by signs and wonders, which render visible the salvation which they
proclaim (2:14-21, 43; 3:1-11, 16; 4:8-12, 30; 5:12, 15-16; 9:31-43).

The Twelve also perform a role of government in the Church. When the members
of the community at Jerusalem give up their property to help their brothers in need,
they lay the money “at the Apostles’ feet” (4:35). When the Hellenist Christians
need to be reassured, the Twelve summon the assembly to establish the ministry
of the diaconate (6:2). When Saul goes up to Jerusalem after his conversion, he
is introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas (9:26-28). The Apostles quite evi-
dently exercise an authority given them by our Lord who invested them with
untransferable responsibilities and duties connected with service to the entire
Church.

The Apostles also intervene outside Jerusalem as guarantors of internal and ex-
ternal unity, which is also an essential distinguishing mark of the Church. After
Philip baptizes some Samaritans, the Apostles Peter and John travel from Jeru-+
salem to give them the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (8:14-17).

After the baptism of the pagan Cornelius, the Apostles study the situation with
Peter, to ascertain more exactly the designs of God and the details of the new
economy of salvation (11:1-18). Apropos of the debate in Antioch about the cir-
cumcision of baptized pagans, the community decides to consult the Apostles
(15:2) to obtain a final decision on this delicate matter.

Most of St. Luke’s attention is concentrated on the figure of Peter, whom he men-
tions 56 times in Acts. Peter is always the center of those scenes or episodes
in which he appears with other Apostles or disciples. In matters to do with the
community at Jerusalem Peter acts as the spokesman of the Twelve (2:14, 37;
5:29) and plays a key role in the opening up of the Gospel to pagans.

The College of the twelve Apostles, whose head is Peter, endures in the Episco-
pacy of the Church, whose head is the Pope, the bishop of Rome, successor of
Peter and vicar of Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council proposes this once
again when it teaches that the “Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father,
called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him,
whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19; Matthew
10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college
or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from
among them (cf. John 21:15-17)” (”Lumen Gentium”, 19).

“Just as, in accordance with the Lord’s decree, St. Peter and the rest of the
Apostles constitute a unique apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman
Pontiff, Peter’s successor, and the bishops, the successors of the Apostles,
are related and united to one another. [...]

“In it the bishops, whilst loyally respecting the primacy and pre-eminence of their
head, exercise their own proper authority for the good of their faithful, indeed even
for the good of the whole Church, the organic structure and harmony of which are
strengthened by the continued influence of the Holy Spirit. The supreme authority
over the whole Church, which this college possesses, is exercised in a solemn
way in an ecumenical council. [...] And it is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff
to convoke such councils, to preside over them and to confirm them” (”ibid.”, 22).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.