Upcoming Sunday Scripture Commentary - April 6

April 6 Sermon – “Who Were the Twelve Disciples of Jesus? Judas Iscariot & Matthias”

Acts 1:15-26

Following the death of Judas Iscariot, the remaining eleven disciples decide to replace Judas with someone who had followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry and who also was an eye witness of the resurrected Christ.

The number, twelve was important because it symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus’ mission was to bring salvation to the world by uniting God’s people (symbolized by the number, twelve.) The disciples were led to choose a replacement for Judas through relying on the scriptures and prayer.

Several of the Psalms speak of God’s true king being betrayed which is what happened to Jesus.

How did Judas die? Matthew 27:3-10 refers to suicide and our Acts passages refers to a sudden fatal disease.

Matthias was chosen to replace Judas. Verse 24 indicates that God knows our hearts and the roles we are to serve in the life of God’s kingdom. The criteria included being with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry and being present with the resurrected Christ.

Whatever happened to Barsabbas? We don’t know. He would have been a good candidate to replace Judas but someone needed to be chosen.

John 13:21-30

While at the Last Supper, Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray him. During this very tense scene, we discover that it is Judas Iscariot.

Verse 21 – Jesus is troubled in spirit. This happens at times in our spiritual journey.

The beloved disciple is most likely the disciple, John. He asks Jesus who is the one to betray him. They were all reclining at the Passover to symbolize the freedom when Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt centuries prior.

Jesus had just washed each of the disciples’ feet, including Judas. When Judas left from the supper, the other disciples probably thought that he was going to help the poor since he controlled the money.

Dipping bread in a dish was a sign of intimate friendship, so this is shocking to know that it’s a sign of betrayal.

Satan means accuser as in a legal sense. Judas is allowing the darkness of the accuser to lead him to betray Jesus. John’s gospel uses this image of light and darkness a lot. But remember, John has told us that the light has come into the world and the darkness cannot not overcome it!

[Note: The resources used for these scripture reading commentaries are based on the Everyone series by NT Wright, The Wesley Study Bible, and the “Montreal-Anglican”lectionary commentaries.]