In the book of Psalms, Peter said: “The scripture must be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke through David: May his [Judas’] place be empty; leave no one to live in it. So now a man must become a witness with us of Jesus being raised from the dead. He must be one of the men who were part of our group during all the time the Lord Jesus was among us from the time John was baptizing people until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven. They put the names of two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. The other was Matthias. The apostles prayed, ‘Lord, you know the thoughts of everyone. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to do this work. Show us who should be an apostle in place of Judas, who turned away and went where he belongs. Then they used lots drawing straws, flipping a coin. It was to determine the will of God. We need the right direction to go for the sake of the kingdom of God, this is to choose between them, and the lots showed that Matthias was the one. So he became an apostle with the other eleven,” Acts 1:20-26.
Peter’s purpose for making this quotation is to show that the disciples should not be staggered by the disappointment of Judas, but seeking and knowing that there was still hope for them and the world. Will the righteous suffer punishment because of Judas? What have we heard or know from him that will bring the punishment of God on us for he was one of us? These were the thoughts of Peter: ‘What will happen to us because of his evil doing? He was one of us and we did nothing. This was not an accident or an accidental thing, this was deliberate, intentional. It was divinely planned. Will we have to suffer for his evil act, or will God continue with His assignment for us? Are we to be our brothers’ keeper? The disciples did not know what Judas was going to do to Jesus, but remember at the last supper, Jesus hinted at the possibility of being betrayed. He did not name one of them. This is why the disciples were confused and distraught, staring at one another. They were at a loss, asking each other: ‘Lord, is it I? Which one of us is it?’ It was only after Judas took the bread Jesus offered that the others He realized it was Judas.
“Jesus answered, it’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish. Then He dipped the piece of bread, He (Jesus) gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,” John 13:26.
The disciples were worried. They did not know what would happen to them. Sometimes, we do not know what will happen to us.
You just do what you have been assigned to do. Go and make it known to the world the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this is the great proof that He [Jesus] is the Messiah, and that the foundation of our hope is in Him. So you go and preach Christ. You go and preach the power of His resurrection. You go and preach that He is God. You go and preach that He is the true Lord; preach the gift of the Holy Spirit; preach repentance; go and preach Jesus. You are not held accountable for someone else’s actions. You go and live out the assignment that has been entrusted to you.
