Page 251 - Demo

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 
The First Community in Jerusalem. 13When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.l
The Choice of Judas’s Successor. 15During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16“My brothers, the scripture had to be ful lled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.m 17He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18n He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.* 19This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. 20For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’
And:
‘May another take his o ce.’o
21Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.”p 23So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” 26* q Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
The chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives
was built in the 12th century at the spot where Jesus
was taken to heaven. Only in the Acts of the Apostles is the Ascension described in such detail.
1:15
Peter is one of the Twelve, but he also has a special role of leadership. Throughout the past two millennia, the bishops of the Church have been called “successors to the Apostles,” with the Pope,
the Bishop of Rome, as the leader among them,
the “successor to Peter.”
1:20
Why is it so important to choose a successor to Judas? For the Jewish people, the number twelve has a special symbolic import: it is the number of the tribes of Israel and symbolizes the whole of the chosen people.
1:21
Peter identi es just one “quali cation” for the successor to Judas’ place among the Twelve: it must be someone who was present “the whole time” (1:21), from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry—his baptism by John—to his resurrection. The qualities we might look for in a leader—education, charisma, connections—are not what is important here. All that matters is that the person be a witness to the whole mystery of Christ.
239
* [1:18] Luke records a popular tradition about the death of Judas that di ers from the one in Mt 27:5, according to which Judas hanged himself. Here, although the text is not certain, Judas is depicted as purchasing a piece of property with the betrayal money and being killed on it in a fall.
* [1:26] The need to replace Judas was probably dictated by the symbolism of the number twelve, recalling the twelve tribes of Israel. This symbolism also indicates that for Luke (see Lk 22:30) the Christian church is a reconstituted Israel.
l. [1:14] Lk 23:49.
m. [1:16] Ps 41:10; Lk 22:47. n. [1:18] Mt 27:3–10.
o. [1:20] Ps 69:26; 109:8; Jn 17:12. p. [1:22] 1:8–9; 10:39.
q. [1:26] Prv 16:33.