Choosing a New Apostle

Psalms 69:25 and 109:8, Peter explains in Acts 1:15–20, foretold the death of Judas Iscariot and his replacement with another man in the company of the Apostles. Thus, as we see in Acts 1:21–26, the eleven remaining Apostles moved to select someone to join them as foundational leaders of the early church.

Judas’ replacement had to meet two criteria. He had to have been present among Jesus’ followers from the time of John’s baptism, and he had to have been an eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection (vv. 21–22). By extension, we can add a third criterion, which Dr. R.C. Sproul notes in his commentary on Acts. The man had to have been directly commissioned by the Lord Jesus Himself. After all, no one ever became an Apostle or saw the resurrection firsthand without first being called by the Lord (e.g., see Mark 3:13–19).

Only two men met the qualifications to be an Apostle: “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias” (Acts 1:23). The early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea reports that Matthias, who was finally selected, was one of the seventy-two men whom Jesus had sent out on a preaching mission during His earthly ministry (Luke 10:1–12), but we cannot be certain of this. Interestingly, Matthias was selected by lot, probably because he and Barsabbas were equally good candidates and nothing in particular favored one over the other. Making decisions by lot was common under the old covenant (e.g., Josh. 18:1–10; 1 Chron. 25:1–8), so the practice is understandable. Here the choice was not entirely by chance, for the Apostles narrowed down the candidates to two men. Of course, under God’s sovereignty, nothing is ever wholly by chance, for “the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). Interestingly enough, this is the only time in the New Testament when the Apostles make a decision by casting lots.

Later, other men who did not meet all the criteria would be selected to join the Apostles: Paul and James the Lord’s brother (Gal. 1:11–19). Neither of these men had followed Jesus during His earthly ministry or had been an eyewitness of the resurrection, but they later received a direct call from Jesus (see 1 Cor. 15:7). Other Apostles who met all the criteria could confirm their calling. In our day, some claim to have received a direct call from God to be an Apostle, but we reject these claims because no Apostles who fulfill all the criteria of Apostleship are living today.