Bible Study Series: Acts 1:15-20. How do you minister to really distressed people? What about yourself? How do you back away from your distress?
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Acts 1:15-20
15 In those days Peter stood up among his brothers and sisters (the crowd of persons was about 120 in that place together) and said, 16 “Men and women, brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had spoken beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus, 17 and who was numbered as one of us and was appointed to share in this ministry. 18 He then acquired a field from the unrighteous reward; and becoming headlong, his abdomen burst open and his guts spilled out, 19 which became known to all the residents in Jerusalem, so the field was called in their language Akeldama, or Field of Blood. 20 For it was written in the book of Psalms:
‘Let his place be deserted, and let not be one who lives there’ [Ps. 69:25]
And
‘Let another be selected in his position’ [Ps. 109:8]. (Acts 1:15-20)
Comments:
15:
They had to find the twelfth apostle because they had to sit on twelve thrones (Matt. 19:28 // Luke 22:30). See vv. 23-26, near the end of those verses, for more comment.
Peter took the lead again, after he had denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. It is now clear why the Gospel of John has the moving scene with Jesus restoring Peter, asking him about his love and telling him to feed Jesus’s sheep and lambs (John 21:15-23). Peter—even before he was baptized in the power and fulness of the Spirit in the next chapter—felt fully restored and reinstated. He now had authority to feed Jesus’s sheep and lambs.
16-20:
Now for a worse betrayal, because it led to Jesus’s arrest and death. Judas died a bad death. Did Jesus forgive him? He never got the chance during his resurrection ministry. What if Judas had held on and not hanged himself? But Judas felt terrible at what he did, being seized with remorse (Matt. 27:3) and returning the thirty pieces of silver. Judas confessed, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4). If that’s not repentance, then what is? What more does anyone require of him to show repentance? However, other verses, particularly in John’s Gospel, show that Judas was lost. Luke repeats this sad truth, here, as well.
Longenecker says that Matthew’s Messianic Jewish community understood that suicide was terribly wrong, so Matthew writes, simply, he hanged himself (27:5). Luke’s Gentile audience probably saw suicide as neutral, so Luke goes into more detail to spell out that Judas’s suicide was not neutral but a sign of a lost soul. (comment on vv. 18-19).
If you want ton reconcile Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts on Judas’s end, go to this link:
What Happened to Judas Iscariot’s Body?
Commentator Keener has produced a table showing the similarities of Matthew and Acts, on the topic of Judas and his betrayal and death:
| Matthew 27:5-8 | Acts 1:18-19 |
| Judas as the betrayer | Judas as the betrayer |
| Judas’s wages were used (by others) to buy a field (27:6-7) | Judas acquired a field as the “wage” of his injustice (1:18) |
| Judas died in an awful manner (27:5) | Judas died in an awful manner (1:18) |
| (Apparently the story remained widespread; (27:8) | Judas’s sorry end became widely known (1:19) |
| The occasion prompted naming the field “Field of Blood” (27:8) | This occasion prompted naming the field “Field of Blood (1:19) |
| The land became an impure burial plot (27:7) | The land became desolate, no longer suited for habitation (1:20) |
| Craig Keener, p. 118 | |
We don’t need to obsess over the tiny differences such that our faith snaps in two because it is so brittle. We know the gist or essence of the story, as seen in the table. Let’s celebrate the similarities.
In God’s kingdom, his confession and return of the money is enough to receive forgiveness, despite suicide. Note that Peter did not say Judas went to hell, but to “his own place,” implying Peter was not sure of Judas’s ultimate destiny. Peter said Judas bought land with the money, but this must be a shortcut way of saying agency—the Sanhedrin bought it, mixed in with Judas’s part in the conspiracy. Or Peter may not have known (cf. 1 Cor. 1:16), which explains why he said that Judas went, “to his own place.” Even if the idiom is translated “to the place that belonged to him,” Peter is still not definitive. Whatever the case, if Jesus can forgive the criminal on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) and Peter, then Jesus could forgive Judas. Suicide does not necessarily exclude anyone from forgiveness or heaven.
However, other texts indicate Judas was lost.
Scroll down to vv. 3-10 for more details on Judas’s ultimate outcome.
Commentator Schnabel says the traditional place of Judas’s suicide is now located near the Greek Orthodox monastery St. Onuphrius, built in the nineteenth century. The tomb of the high priest Annas was found there (comment on v. 19).
It should be pointed out that James, the brother of John, sons of Zebedee, and close follower of Jesus, was martyred (Acts 12:2), but no one filled his place with a twelfth apostle because Jesus had promised him a place in the new age (Matt. 19:28 // Luke 22:30). Judas was replaced because of his apostasy, not his death. James was not replaced because martyrdom acquires no blame or stain. He will sit on one of the twelve thrones. In contrast, though Judas would not be numbered among one of the twelve in the afterlife, it is possible that he is there now because of his repentance and God’s grace. I don’t know for sure, but for me God’s grace leaves the door open and offers hope for him.
It is remarkable that Peter, the fisherman and businessman, knew so many Scriptures, especially obscure ones like the ones he quoted. They must have popped into his head because he had read the book of Psalms, either recently or when he was a child. Scripture study is imperative. The New Testament and the Psalms are good places to begin. In v. 16, Peter (and Luke) have a high regard for Scripture, because David wrote this passage through the Holy Spirit. 2 Tim. 3:16 says that all Scripture is inspired of God. We too should have a high regard for Scripture.
“ministry”: it comes from the noun diakonia (pronounced dee-ah-koh-nee-ah), where we get our word deacon, but let’s not impose a later meaning on the old Greek word. It meant those who did practical service, but this does not limit their service away from the Word, as we shall observe with Philip and Stephen. But it gradually came to mean those people at the church who did practical service (1 Tim. 3:10, 13). Here it means ministry, broadly defined. We could translate it as “apostolic ministry.” Acts 6:4 says that the apostolic ministry was the ministry of the word. They proclaimed Israel’s Messiah and Savior, Jesus.
To conclude, ….
Let’s compare Peter’s betrayal with Judas’s. Let’s see ourselves in Peter’s version.
Have you betrayed Jesus, as Peter did? Jesus said that if anyone were to disown him before men, Jesus would disown him before his Father (Matt. 10:33). Apparently, however, that general warning allows for exceptions. Jesus reaches out to people in whom he sees potential, even after the worst sin one can think of—betrayal. So if you betrayed Jesus by your lifestyle and going backwards in your sins and addictions or with your words, then he still wants to restore you.
Grow App for Acts 1:15-20
1. Jesus himself indicated that Judas was lost (John 17:12). To prevent this in our lives, all we need to do is remain in union with Christ. How do we do this?
2. Did you know someone who committed suicide? How did you process the tragedy? Don’t misapply Judas’s unique set of circumstances and tell parents whose son committed suicide that he is lost. Entrust him to God, who loves and is merciful.
3. Yet how do you coax someone who is threatening suicide away from the final act? How would you minister to him?
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
What Happened to Judas Iscariot’s Body?
SOURCES
For the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 