Morning Devotional

June 24, 2004

"One More"

by Don Emmitte

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(Judas bought a field with the money he received for his treachery, and falling there, he burst open, spilling out his intestines. The news of his death spread rapidly among all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means "Field of Blood.") Peter continued, "This was predicted in the book of Psalms, where it says, `Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.' And again, `Let his position be given to someone else.' "So now we must choose another man to take Judas's place. It must be someone who has been with us all the time that we were with the Lord Jesus-- from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us into heaven. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus' resurrection." So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they all prayed for the right man to be chosen. "O Lord," they said, "you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas the traitor in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs." Then they cast lots, and in this way Matthias was chosen and became an apostle with the other eleven. (Acts 1:18-26 NIV).

We have just completed a twelve-day look at the original disciples of Jesus. No study of the disciples would be complete without pointing out the adding of Matthias to the group. After the fall of Judas, Matthias, a man obviously dedicated to the gospel, was chosen to make the dozen complete again.

Not a whole lot is known about Matthias. The scripture says they were looking for someone who had been with them the whole time that Jesus was with them. He had to be with them from John's baptism to the time when Jesus ascended to heaven. He also needed to be an eyewitness of His resurrection. We know, therefore, that Matthias was faithful to the Lord, from the days of John the Baptist right up until His death.

The question that the life of Matthias brings to my mind is: What number am I? Jesus told the disciples to "go and make disciples". They started with Matthias. They searched for faithful men and women who were unashamed of the gospel; not afraid to stand alone for the sake of their call to Christ; committed to keeping Jesus as the center of their life. I wonder how many other disciples have come and gone, simply being obedient, thus resulting in that one person leading me to faith in Christ?

It makes me stand in awe at the plan of God through the ages. There is another interesting question to consider though. I wonder how Matthias felt being the first of another “generation” of disciples? Sometimes it is easy to feel second-class when we aren’t a part of the original group. Being the “newcomer” is never easy. We can make it easier for those folks though. We should welcome the new disciples into our fellowship. Like new children born into a family, there should be nothing but joy and celebration. Is that how you treat new disciples? It should be.