HE WAS CHOSEN TO REPLACE JUDAS ISCARIOT [ACTS 1:15-17,20-26]]
MATTHIAS, whose feast we celebrate today, was chosen to replace Judas as “a witness” to Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 1:22). Matthias was chosen in part because he had been with Jesus from the start of His ministry and had stayed faithful to Him throughout His travels and preaching. Matthias saw the risen Christ ascend to the Father in heaven as well (Acts 1:21-22). As a result, he was considered a credible witness to the Gospel, one who could speak from firsthand experience about the Lord.
It is important to understand that all this happened before the miracle of Pentecost. After God poured out His Spirit, great apostles like Barnabas and Paul were raised up who had not been with Jesus during His ministry and did not see Him die and rise. What qualified them? Jesus promised His disciples that when the Holy Spirit came, He would “bear witness” about Him (John 15:26), bringing the reality of Jesus’ presence to life within them (John 14:23). The Holy Spirit, who came at Pentecost, revealed the risen Lord to them so powerfully that they could testify to His reality.
Even today, we can receive Jesus into our hearts in just as powerful a way. As God pours His love into us through the Spirit, Jesus comes to live within us, and we become His witnesses. We no longer just know about Jesus, we know Jesus – and we are transformed. Jesus’ victory over death begins to open up to us the fullness of life that God intended for us from the beginning: a life marked by joy, hope, and confidence that we are His beloved children (Romans 8:16). We begin to live day by day, hour by hour, with Him. We no longer thing the same or act the same. We may not even look the same!
Let us now ask the Holy Spirit to show us the risen Lord with such power that we too are enabled to be witnesses to the Gospel. This is God’s glorious promise to us, an inheritance in which we can all partake.
Jakarta, 14 May 2014
A Christian Pilgrim
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