The Narrow Path Ministries

I've heard it taught that Peter and the other 10 apostles were mistaken when they added Matthias as an apostle recorded in Acts 1. It was stated that Jesus didn't command them to select another apostle, so they were "jumping the gun". Paul was meant to be the 12th but Peter and the 10 were impatient and did this apart from the will of God.

However, I see no evidence in scripture that this was a mistake or that it was condemned.

Thoughts?

I agree with you, and I think Luke (and therefore the early church) did as well. If anyone was a loyal fan of Paul's it was Luke, and yet he never gave any hint that he felt Paul was to replace Judas.

Luke does not give the slightest hint that this action was held as questionable by the early church (and Luke was writing thirty years after Paul's conversion), and simply summarizes the results of the proceedings with the non-critical statement, "And [Matthias] was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:26).

It is sometimes said that, since the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, that the mind of God was not made known to Peter or the apostles. Possibly, but the scriptures do not make this point. Peter based his decision upon his understanding of certain scriptures (Ps.69:25; 109:8), and the group cast lots to allow God to make the choice, which had been a method of discerning the will of God in Old Testament times, and seemed to have God's sanction (Prov.16:33).

Some say that the evidence of Luke's (and God's?) disapproval of the choice of Matthias is that we never hear of him again in the Bible. But this is hardly true—nor significant. We hear of him several times after his selection. In fact, in the remaining chapters of Acts alone, we read of him at least 21 times ( Acts 2:37, 42, 43; 4:33, 35, 36, 37; 5:2, 12; 6:6; 8:1, 14; 9:27; 11:1; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23, 33; 16:4). Every reference to "the apostles" in Jerusalem includes him, according to Acts 1:26).

If we take the fact that Matthias' name is not mentioned again after chapter one of Acts as evidence that God did not recognize his apostleship, then the same argument would also serve as evidence that God did not recognize the apostleship of Andrew, Thomas, Philip, Matthew—or any of the twelve, other than Peter, James and John.

The reason Paul was not numbered among the twelve, I think, is that, by mutual agreement, Paul's team was recognized as having a ministry to the Gentile world, while the twelve saw their province as "the circumcision" (Gal.2:7-9). This conviction, that the twelve primarily were given authority to minister in the Jewish world, may have been founded on Jesus' earlier statement to Peter:

"when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt.19:28)

In any case, no biblical writer (including Paul) ever spoke as if Paul should be regarded as belonging to "the twelve."

I think also that many people assume that there was only supposed to be 12 apostles an no more. But Acts 14:14 also recognizes Barabas as an apostle. There may have been others.

Todd

Rev 21:14 - Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So Matthias would be the twelveth apostle right?
I'd say so, because Paul didn't seem to include himself as part of the twelve:

1 Cor. 14:5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

This seems to answer the question to whether Paul considered part of "the twelve", but then brings up another interesting question. Who was the "twelveth" apostle? Could it have been Matthias? It couldn't be Judas, because he already been dead. The only possible answers I know of are

1) Mathias was the the last to make it 12 of 12
or
2) the usage of "the twelve" was an oft-used synonym for the disciples, similar to how we use "the big ten" though there are more than 10 teams in that college conference.

Does anyone have any aditional thoughts? Regardless, I am satisfied by the above possiblities, especially #2.

SoaringEagle