Saint Matthias replaces Judas as an apostle

Matthias was one of the seventy disciples who followed Christ during his public life. As such, he witnessed Jesus' preaching and the miracles he performed, which authenticated his doctrine. After the death of Judas, Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas. St Peter, the head of the apostles, then put Matthias in charge of evangelising a region which, after some time in Judea, may have been Aethiopia, an ancient Egyptian military colony in the Caucasus mountains (modern-day Georgia). He died a martyr around 60 AD.

Shutterstock, Nadezhda Bolotina.

Les raisons d'y croire :

Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (born around 265 and died in 339) wrote his Ecclesiastical History on the basis of abundant documentation. He mentions Saint Matthias several times. In the chapter he devotes to the disciples of Jesus Christ, he reports that, according to Clement of Alexandria, Matthias belonged to the group of seventy disciples (Book I, ch. 12, 3). Eusebius refers to a work, now lost, by Clement, a priest of Alexandria (born around 150 and died around 210), entitled Book of Hypotyposes.

Saint Luke wrote a chronicle of the actions of the apostles, beginning after Christ had left them on Ascension Day to return to his Father. This historical account is called the Acts of the Apostles. In the first chapter of the book, Saint Luke recounts how Matthias was chosen by lot so that the divine will, which had already called the eleven other apostles, would also designate the one who was to replace Judas, who had killed himself after guiding the soldiers to go arrest Jesus, for the price of thirty pieces of silver.

Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, echoes the historical fact of Matthias' election (Book II, ch. 1, 1).

The name of Saint Matthias appears in the canon of the Mass, not in the first list of apostles, but in the second, that of martyrs, after the Prayer for the Dead. The canon was composed on the basis of ancient traditions, around the fourth century.

Matthias joined the eleven apostles after Jesus' death on the cross. He must have been certain of Jesus' resurrection for accepting to take on such a great mission. He is one of the witnesses to Christ's resurrection and gave his life to make Christ's message known.

Synthèse :

After Christ's Ascension, but before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church, the apostles found themselves alone. Jesus had promised them the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the divine Spirit of truth and strength who unites the Father and the Word within the Most Holy Trinity.

To prepare for his coming, St Peter, divinely inspired, decided to replace Judas so that the college of apostles would once again be complete. Since the death of Judas, the number of apostles had dropped from twelve to eleven. The number twelve is a sacred number in Sacred Scripture, which recounts the past history of the people of God but also foretells the future of the Church. Thus there were twelve patriarchs, all sons of Jacob (Gen 49), who were the fathers of the twelve tribes (Joshua, chapters 13 to 22).

With the birth of the Church, founded by Jesus Christ, the apostles became the spiritual successors of the patriarchs. From then on, they were the guardians of the peoples of the earth, all of whom were called to know the good news of salvation through the preaching of the apostles: they were in fact the first bishops ("episcopes", i.e. those who watch over the spiritual welfare of the peoples entrusted to them by Jesus Christ). For these historical, symbolic and soteriological reasons (linked to the salvation of the world), we can understand Saint Peter's concern to replace Judas.

The "eleven" therefore returned to the Upper Room, where they had met several times with their Master in Jerusalem. Led by St Peter and probably with the advice of the Virgin Mary, they began to pray. This is how Saint Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, relates the events:

"When 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. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."

"During 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, “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 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. This 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. For 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 office.' Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.” (Acts 1: 13-22)

After recounting this speech by the apostle Peter, Saint Luke continues his account:

"So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles." (Acts 1 :13-26).

Saint Matthias didn't leave any writings. Eusebius of Caesarea mentions a "Gospel of Matthias", but specifies that it is not only apocryphal (i.e. falsely attributed to him), but also "absurd and impious" because of the opinions it presents that are contrary to the Christian faith (Historia Ecclesiastica, book III, ch. 25, 7). Clement of Alexandria reports "that Matthias is said to have taught... that we must fight the senses" and "increase the strength of the soul through faith and knowledge" (Stromates, III, 4, trans. Genoude, p. 226).

In his Synopsis, a collection of sayings and portraits of apostles, prophets and disciples of the Saviour, Bishop Dorotheus of Tyre notes that Saint Matthias died a martyr in Ethiopia (modern-day Georgia) Much later, the Byzantine monk Nicephorus (historian and poet of the late 13th and early 14th centuries) echoed this tradition in his Ecclesiastical History (Book II, ch. 40).

The saint's relics, transported by Saint Helena, are venerated in Rome in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, under the papal altar, and perhaps also in Trier, in the church that bears the apostle's name.

Fr. Vincent-Marie Thomas, Ph. D. in Philosophy

Aller plus loin :

Acts of the Apostles by Saint Luke

En savoir plus :

Miscellanies (Stromata) by Clement of Alexandria, Beloved Publishing LLC (November 14, 2014)
Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged by Eusebius Pamphilus (Author), Arthur Cushman McGiffert (Translator), ‎Kregel Academic; Later Printing edition (May 31, 2007)
Ecclesiastical History by Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos