Category: Devotions

Acts 1:25

“… to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”

Yesterday I was walking through a shopping mall and a lady stopped me and persuaded me to buy some Dead Sea Salts for my skin! She said she thought I needed it! I said I’d been there and that 2 members of my staff were on there way to that beautiful nation right now. She was amazed I liked Israel. She said she has many people say horrible things when they know it is from Israel.
I said some people are just ignorant.
What I also believe is that some people just love to judge. They love to dismiss, discard, sentence others.
They talk like they are God. They are not.

Judas left to go where he belongs. And many have interpreted this as hell.
Judas is in hell right? He betrayed Jesus, he is now experiencing eternal condemnation right?
I don’t believe so.

Judas was chosen by Jesus, not the other way round. I actually believe that is crucial. I understand some don’t own that theology of salvation safety. So let’s move on.

Judas repented and confessed his sin proclaiming he innocence of Jesus (Matt 27:4). I actually believe that anyone and I mean anyone no matter how bad they are if they acknowledge their sin and confess it do find their salvation.

The third reason I don’t believe Judas is in hell is just simply based on the uncomfortableness I have of having an opinion on anyone’s eternal destination.

Don’t right anyone off, even if they are dead. No one really knows!

Acts 1:24

Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen.”

Throughout this book we will see how they prayed. Prayer is central to everything they do.

Lord … You are the One, the Master, everything, the one we serve, surrender to and are obedient to. They knew who was in charge. They knew who was boss.

You know the heart …. It is not only about whether someone has been with us the whole time. It is not only about the gifting and skills. It is the heart. What is inside? The Lord knows this.

Show us … Direct us to what you can see, to what you know. Demonstrate to us, reveal to us, point it out to us.

This is still the prayer that we should strive for.

Acts 1:23

So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

Two men, both suitable candidates. Both had been with the group from the beginning. Both were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Both could have been the replacement.
One was nominated and went through the whole of the what might be what might not be routine and found out that actually he was not chosen.

Nearly there. Down to the final 2. But you don’t make it.
What do you do when it looks like you nearly got there but didn’t? Where do you go?
Do you enter a life of insignificance, unnoticed, not mentioned again, as with Justus? Well this is also what happened to Matthias. Both are never mentioned again.
The point is not where you are going but where you have been. They had been with Jesus. It didn’t matter if they became a leading apostle or not an apostle at all. They knew they were there from the time Jesus came and went. They were a witness and that was all that was important.
Today you may be promoted and you may also miss your promotion. But it is not important. We so often listen to vision and dreams as they are displayed as being of the utmost importance. But they are not. Where you have been is more important to where you are going.
Have you been to Jesus?

Acts 1:22
… beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

It was a must. The Resurrection of Jesus. It was everything.
The central message was from the beginning “Christ is alive! I have seen Him!”
When they wee asked, “Were you there?” They had to be able to say “Yes”.
They couldn’t say “No but I was told Jesus had risen”.
It had to be personally experienced.

It still is everything.
It still has to be personally experienced.
Your testimony has to be about you and it is unique to you. No one has your story. Your story that says Jesus is alive and my changed life proves it.

The resurrection is central to everything. We lose that then we have nothing. Our message continues to be in every high and low, mountain and valley …Jesus is alive!

To those who need a miracle today … Jesus is alive!
If He is alive then anything is possible!

Acts 1:21

Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

So there were men who hadn’t been chosen in the Twelve but who still followed Jesus from the beginning.
Do others look like they are more chosen than you?
Will you still follow even though you don’t get the recognition like others do?
Are you running your race or competing against others?

Acts 1:20

“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms, ” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no-one to dwell in it,’
and, ” ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

Quoting from Psalm 69 and 109 Peter is not sugar-coating what Judas did.
Speaking of the enemies of David and thus as a type of Christ it is clear that judgment is pronounced. Their habitation will be deserted. They will be no more. This is not a declaration on Judas only but the Chief Priests, the scribes and the elders who all conspired in the plot of the death of Jesus.

And the point is let’s call it what it is.
If it’s a betrayal let’s call it that. Let’s not cover the bad up. What Judas did was to put himself into the place as an enemy of Jesus.

Sometimes we are so keen to find the good that we forget to call the bad what it is. All things work together for good and that is certainly not just the good things, it is all things, which means the bad.

Secondly, Peter uses the Psalms to say another person will take the empty place. We move forward. We don’t sink back in our disappointment. We press ahead. There are other people when our friend walks away. There are new doors when the favourite door slams shut. We believe. The sun will shine again.

That’s the Scripture. That’s its guidance.

Acts 1:19

Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.

However Judas died, he had bought a field presumably with money from his betrayal of Jesus. He died in that field. Everyone in the city heard of this so whether they called it Akeldama because of his dying blood or because of the dying blood of Jesus which his betrayal led to we do not know.
But it was a field of blood.

People are watching your life.
You don’t live alone.
What are you going to leave behind? A home? A legacy? Your values of life?
What are they going to call your field?
Will it be something that will indicate that you have walked away from the Lord or walked with Him?
Will it be the blood of Jesus who has changed you?
Will it be the blood of man where you have fought many fights won many enemies and your anger is ever before you?
What is in your hands?

Acts 1:18

With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

Have you ever wondered on why Luke’s account of Judas’ death doesn’t match with Matthew’s?
Matthew 27:5
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Two different stories. Some people have combined the two to read that Judas whilst hanging the rope snapped and he fell to the floor and that’s when his body burst open.
But the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible says 2 different accounts. One of which was a suicide and the other which appears to be some kind of disease.
At no time does anyone try and correct either Matthew or Luke.
It does not seem to matter to the Church.
This is a detail that isn’t needing to be sorted out.
The point is that Judas left and according to Scripture they would need to replace him.
It was not about how he died. That detail was not important.
The Church focuses often on the wrong things. Some things have become far more important than they need to be. The Church can major on the minors. Going through situations with inquiries and investigations to isolate the truth and expose the lies. The Church is not comfortable with controversy or contradictions.
Perhaps we should say more often, “it doesn’t matter, let’s not worry about that, it’s not important, it is detracting from the most important.”

Acts 1:17

…he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

Have you ever lost a friend?
Not through death though it does feel like a bereavement.
A friend who journeyed with you.
One who shared the ministry with you.
You faced challenges and celebrated successes together.
Praying together, pondering God together, dreaming, longing for what is in the future.
Then that friend walked away.
Have you ever had that experience?
If you have then you understand this verse.
2 becomes 1 or in this case 12 becomes 11.
The 12 represented the 12 tribes of Israel.
Now there is a lost tribe.
It is an experience of woeful emptiness.
Wondering if all that you shared was worth nothing to the person who walked away.
What you had is torn up and made nothing, it will never have life again.
There can be loneliness long after.
What you are reading this morning is telling you that these are ancient experiences certainly as far back as 2000 years ago but since the beginning of time actually.
And yet even in this verse I see hope not despair if you look again….
“our number” “this ministry”
Whether you were a 2 become 1 or a 12 become 11, it was not just your number, it was ‘our’ meaning they were part of that and by walking away they too have suffered the loss of what you once had. You are not only the victim and you can and will move forward. That person did not walk away from you alone but from what you were part of and who put that number together? it was God. The person walked away from what God had arranged. You are still you!
Secondly, it was again a ministry God put together. It was not yours, you don’t own it. The disappointment is real but you didn’t create what the person walked from. It belongs to HIM!
I hope that brings some comfort.

Acts 1:16

… and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus …

Some things had to happen.
It is easy to accept the good things being seen and permitted by God.
Less easy if it’s a bad thing.
“Long ago”, in the ancestor generations, David said it would happen.
It didn’t have to be Judas.
But there would be a betrayal.
Why didn’t someone spot it?
Perhaps because they would have stopped it happening.
Can you imagine the 12 disciples gathering around after another incredible day with Jesus and Peter insisting again and again, “Listen guys, the Scripture says someone betrays Jesus, let’s make sure it’s not one of us!”
That just didn’t happen.
They were discovering who Jesus was and would still have doubts even as he ascended. And perhaps there are times when God just hides things from us. For they certainly only appropriated this Scripture after the event.
The cross of salvation needed the betrayal.
The good needed the bad.
It was part of the story.
This prayerful people were becoming also a people of the Scriptures.
They found that in the Psalms, the prophets and kings inspired by the Spirit prophesied of a traitor, one opposing the King of kings would come from within their own ranks.
This meant that God was in control all along.
The Word of God brings the balance when your world seems out of control.