I can still use my grandfather’s axe. My father changed the axe head because it was worn out and my grandfather changed the handle. But it is still my grandfather’s axe in the same way you are still you despite changing just about every cell in your body every few years. Change does not mean impermanence. Jesus’ disciples are rather like that. When the role filled by Judas became tragically vacant, the other 120 disciples chose two candidates to take over the job. Having done everything that human reason could do they cast lots to decide between the two. And the lot fell to Matthias.
Matthias was the first of the new breed of disciples after Jesus rose from the dead and took his place in heaven where he could be available to all. So little is known about Matthias that the very earliest sources, Clement of Alexandria for example, could guess that he was the same man as the Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to get a better view of Jesus as he passed by. Others identify him with Barnabas who accompanied Saint Paul and Saint Mark on the early missionary journeys into Turkey. Yet others think he may have the Nathaniel mentioned in the Fourth Gospel. There is also an old tradition that Matthias preached the Gospel in Ethiopia. Some say he died there and others that he died in Rome.
In the end, none of this matters. Someone who had been a constant companion of Jesus was chosen to fill Judas’ place by casting lots. Today people might think that the disciples gave up trying to decide between the two candidates but in fact they were acting according to a very old tradition. For example, when the wandering Hebrews finally reached the Promised Land, they shared out the territory by casting lots. Joshua, Moses’ successor, said, “After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God.” (Joshua 18:9) Nobody knows just what a lot was except that it was probably something that was thrown. It was one of those things that everyone in the ancient world simply took for granted and needed no explanation just as today children might say eeny, meany, miney, moe and we all know just what’s going on and the origin of the words is lost.
Lots were cast when the Exiles returned from slavery in Babylon to resettle Jerusalem. The Book of Nehemiah contains this record: “The leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to live in Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own homes.” (Nehemiah 11:1) This was not superstition. This was a practical way of solving an otherwise intractable problem. The Book of Proverbs says: “Casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.” (Proverbs 18:18). Lots were also cast to determine which was the guilty party when a crime had been committed. This is the kind of lot casting suggested in the story of how Joshua found a thief by choosing between tribe and tribe, between clan and clan within the chosen tribe, between family and family within the chosen clan and so on until an individual was blamed and punished. (Joshua 7:14-15). This seems very unjust today but then most religions in the ancient world believed that the gods could intervene directly to make things come out as they wished.
When the disciples proposed both Matthias and Barsabbas, also known as Justus, to complete the Twelve they acted in the belief that the number twelve was important: there had been one apostle for each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The faith had not spread far outside the Jewish community and the first Christians had not fully worked out their role. Their minds were concentrated on themselves as the new Chosen People in the new Promised Land of the Kingdom of God. It was natural that they should hark back to the way things were done first time around.
Author: C B Whittle