Apostle Matthias
August 9th It was a terrible dilemma.
The Twelve Apostles had lost one of their number in the wake of Christ’s Crucifixion – and they had lost him through a disastrous act of betrayal that left all of them numb with horror. The defector’s name was Judas Iscariot, and he had been the one who led the soldiers to the Savior, so that they could arrest him. In return for this calamitous deed, the traitor received thirty pieces of silver. Later that day, after Christ Jesus had given up his life on the cross, Judas saw what he had done.
Gripped by despair, he threw the blood-money away and then hung himself by the neck . . . a nihilistic act of spiritual desolation that probably doomed him forever, while also creating an empty place at the table of the Original Twelve Apostles.
When the remaining eleven disciples sat down once again to ponder their future, the first task they faced was to fill the empty place at the table. Who would take the seat that had been owned by Judas? After a lengthy discussion, the grieving disciples decided that two loyal followers of Jesus were well qualified to become the new Twelfth Apostle: Matthias, an earnest and enthusiastic young man from Bethlehem in Palestine, and also Joseph, known as Barsabbas (sometimes also referred to as “Justus”). Both were excellent candidates for the post: honest, courageous, humble and also pious. But which one TAKEN FROM most deserved to be appointed? After discussing the matter at length, the disciples
decided to let the Lord God decide the matter; they would “cast lots” in order to identify the Twelfth Apostle. As related in the Acts of the Apostles, the selection began with a fervent prayer to the Lord for guidance:
“You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” (Acts 1:24-26).
The lot fell to the zealous Matthias, who had already been chosen by the Original Twelve to be one of “The Seventy” – the much larger number of disciples who would be charged with carrying the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Matthias, who was of the tribe of Judah and had studied the Holy Scriptures in Jerusalem with St. Simeon (also known as the “Receiver of God”), was thrilled to learn of his elevation. In recent years, while following Jesus around Galilee, Matthias had felt great awe when he witnessed the miracles and the healing power of the Lord. Now he would be allowed to join the Original Apostles and to serve Christ’s Holy Gospel for the rest of his life!
After receiving the Holy Spirit with the other Apostles at Pentecost, the enthusiastic Matthias would be sent out to preach the Good News with great joy in his heart. In the years ahead, he would tell the world of the love that the Son of God had for men everywhere, and also of the salvation that this eternal love had made possible through the sacrifice of the Crucifixion. Matthias would narrate this amazing story throughout Judea, and then in such faraway countries as Ethiopia, where he risked his life frequently in struggles against pagan idol-worshippers who were quite prepared to kill him for his beliefs.
Again and again, the kindly and humble-spirited Matthias barely escaped from these marauders with his life. In the wild and mountainous region of Macedonia (later part of Turkey and now a region of Greece), he was thrown into prison by pagans and then commanded to disavow his faith in Jesus Christ. When he refused to comply, his torturers announced the penalty: He would be blinded with red-hot metal. But just as his captors moved to make good on their threat, an astonishing thing took place: The saint was suddenly rendered invisible, and walked past his tormentors to freedom, without even being touched!
It had been a narrow escape. Yet this was only one of several occasions on which Matthias would be saved from death by the grace of Almighty God. Captured and sentenced to die by poison during another brush with death a few years later, he would drink a deadly potion and then remain unharmed . . . while also healing several other Christian prisoners who had been blinded by the poisonous concoction!
But Matthias’ ultimate fate as a martyr for Christ had been written in the stars from the beginning of time, and when he returned again to preach in the land of Palestine, that fate finally occurred. Arrested by the High Priest Ananias – the same corrupt cleric who had murdered James the Brother of the Lord by having him thrown from the roof of the Jerusalem Temple – Matthias was dragged into court and charged with the worst crime imaginable: sedition against the Jewish rulers of the Holy City! Interrogated relentlessly by the Sanhedrin, he refused to abjure his faith, however, and was promptly condemned to death.
Once the sentence had been read to the court, Matthias was taken to the prison grounds and stoned to death. But merely killing this kindly and humble man was not enough for the High Priest – who also ordered that his head be removed from his body with an axe . . . in order to send a message to the Roman occupiers of the city. (Since beheading a traitor was the Roman method of capital punishment, the High Priest was hoping to show his colonial rulers that Matthias had also been guilty of stirring up revolt against the authority of Rome.)
The Great Martyr Matthias died in Jerusalem in the Year of Our Lord 63, after joyfully accepting his destiny as one who died for Jesus Christ. His life has wonderfully inspired Christians for nearly 20 centuries, because it was so full of joy and contentment in the Lord. Surely this was why Matthias’ “number came up” on that great and glorious day when he was chosen by lot to become one of the Original Twelve. His greatest triumph was that he remained faithful – right from the beginning – to Jesus’ call to “Follow me.”
Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Apostle Matthias, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Truly, into all the world thy sound hath gone forth as a brightly-beaming sun; and it enlighteneth by grace the Church of all nations on the earth, O wonderworking Matthias, Apostle of Christ.
