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Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 Easter 7 5/16/21

And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

THE TWELFTH MAN (Not under copyright)

I’d like to open with a multiple choice question. To whom does the slogan, “The ,” (specifically numeral 12) belong?

a. The Seattle Seahawks b. The Renton Fire Department c. Texas A & M University d. FOX Sports Network

Seahawks fans like to refer to themselves collectively, especially in their home stadium, as “The 12th Man.” But the Seahawks football club may not do so or sell any merchandise with those words. Why? Because the copyright of those specific words using the numeral 12 belongs to Texas A & M University of College Station, Texas.

Some of you may be aware of the history associated with The 12th Man. At different times in the 1990s the , the , the Indianapolis Colts, and the Seattle Seahawks used the words as a fan nickname. A & M told them to stop. But Seattle ignored A & M and didn’t stop. Eventually, in 2006, connected with a lawsuit on behalf of A & M, an agreement was reached. Seattle could not sell merchandise using the slogan, but it was allowed to raise “the ‘12th Man’ flag at games. Only jerseys with the number 12 could be sold.” (I am quoting, actually, from a website).

This agreement between Texas A & M and the Seattle Seahawks is now in its latest contract, which added certain details. Financially, the Seahawks paid $140,000 plus added annual fees of $28,000. “The 12th Man” still cannot be used on merchandise, but former owner Paul Allan was granted trademarks for “The 2

12s,” “The Spirit of 12,” and “We are 12.” The U.S. government does not grant trademarks for the number 12 alone.

In the Bible there is a twelfth man. His name was Matthias. Following the suicide of Judas Iscariot, the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus were reduced to eleven. There isn’t any magic associated with the number 12, although we love to play around and assign meaning to particular numbers like 3, 7, 12, 100, 144, and the like. Some say that twelve disciples echo the twelve tribes of Israel, but while attractive, there’s no evidence for it.

For whatever reason, our Lord decided on twelve men to be what we might call his inner circle, those who would be specially trained to carry the Gospel into the world after his own time in the world was over and his mission of redemption accomplished. Those twelve would be the primary witnesses to all he did and said, as well as to what happened to him at almost every turn.

We could get into a good debate over “why twelve” and why “twelve men.” Let’s save that debate for another time. The point is that they wanted or needed to replace Judas.

Two men were noted in particular as eligible: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. They cast lots and Matthias won. Or you could say he was the loser when you consider that, later, his life was sacrificed in the service of Christ.

Here is what Britannica says about St. Matthias:

Acts reveals that Matthias accompanied Jesus and the Apostles from the time of the Lord’s Baptism to his Ascension ... St. Jerome and the early Christian writers Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea attest that Matthias was among the 72 disciples paired off and dispatched by Jesus. Soon after his election, Matthias received the Holy Spirit with the other Apostles (Acts 2:1–4). He is not mentioned again in the New Testament.

It is generally believed that Matthias ministered in Judaea and then carried out missions to foreign places. Greek tradition states that he Christianized Cappadocia, a mountainous district now in central Turkey, later journeying to the region about the Caspian Sea, where he was martyred by 3 crucifixion and, according to other legends, chopped apart. His symbol, related to his alleged martyrdom, is either a cross or a halberd. St. Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, reputedly transported Matthias’ relics from Jerusalem to Rome.

So far in this sermon I’ve done a little bit of sports history and some bible biography. But I’m pointing in one particular direction, and I’ll identify it with a question: What especially qualified both Barsabbas and Matthias to become the “twelfth man of the apostles after the ascension?”

Was it their maturity? Their experience? Was it because they might have been able to read and write? Did they have Ph. Ds in Eastern religion? Did they have a Costco or Whole Foods card so that the company of the disciples could be resupplied at a reasonable cost? Were these the only two whose wives told them it was okay for them to join up? What was it?

We’ve already answered the question in a general way, but our text answers it in a clear and specific way. So one of the men who have accompanied us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness to us to his (Christ’s) resurrection.

The answer is that the person chosen to take the place of Judas HAD to be a man who was a witness to the fact that Christ had been raised physically from the dead. By way of broader qualification, that person had to be a disciple and a witness to all Jesus said and did from the moment of his baptism by John to his ascension back into heaven. He had to know Jesus just as well as the other eleven disciples. He had to have heard Jesus’ words and teachings, witnessed his miracles and relationships, known he died on the cross and was buried, and was seen for several weeks along with the rest of the disciples after Christ’s resurrection. Finally, he had to have also been a witness that Jesus ascended back to his Father in heaven.

There has in modern times been a mistaken and ignorant idea by critics of Christianity, and many non-Christians—critics or not—that Jesus was just a man at most, and that there is nothing credible or reliable about the books of the New Testament or the claims of the early Christians. His virgin birth, his ministry filled with so many extraordinary things, his crucifixion and burial, and particularly his 4 resurrection, they say, really cannot be proven and likely has no basis in actual fact. It’s just a bunch of stories invented by the apostles and others. It’s just an attempt to avoid the unpleasant reality that after death there is nothing, and if there is anything, it’s just drifts of vapor in space and certainly nothing really real. It’s really a just bunch of hooey that people who do not know how to think believe.

People, including the skeptics, who embrace this ignorant narrative that the Gospel is not based on anything significantly real or reliable, should sit down and read not only the historical detail of the four Gospels, but the Book of Acts. Then they should read the literature and history outside the books of the Bible to see where certain things intersect.

In the passage we have chosen for our text today, it is abundantly clear that the congregation of believers in Jerusalem wanted someone to take Judas’ place who had been an eyewitness to everything Jesus did and said, but especially to his resurrection. They did not believe in “alternative facts.” They did not want to allow the popular narrative of the skeptics who believe there is no “there” there to gain any kind of a foothold. What the Jerusalem believers wanted—many of whom, if not most, had seen the risen Christ—was the truth to be faithfully and authentically proclaimed. Of all of them, two men best fit the bill in terms of their being reliable witnesses to the whole span of Christ’s ministry and mission, and they more or less flipped a coin to decide who would be their “twelfth man.” In fact, St. Luke, the historian who wrote Acts said, they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias.

A website called BibleRef says this about the casting of lots: “The practice of casting lots was an honored tradition in Israel for determining the will of God. Unlike fortune telling or scrying, God ordained and directed the Urim and Thummim that were kept with the high priest (Leviticus 8:8). Lots were used often in the Old Testament, most importantly in dividing up the Promised Land to the twelve tribes (Joshua 18:6). In this case, the names of Joseph and Matthias are probably written on stones and placed in a jar. The jar is shaken until one of the stones comes out. This is the last recorded case in the Bible of God's people using lots. Within days, the Holy Spirit will come upon this room and permanently dwell inside the hearts of the people” 5

You and I are worshipping today because we believe that God loved us so much that he sent his only son into our lives to live, die, and rise from the dead for us, and that he will return in glory to take us to heaven. There may be other reasons why we worship, but this is the central one; this is the heart of our faith and fellowship.

My Gospel message to you today, the Good News, is this: perhaps even more than you have ever thought you could, you can rely on the Word of God—the holy, inspired words of the Scriptures. And at the heart of the Scriptures is the Son of God given by heaven’s Father to the world for its salvation. You can rely, perhaps more than you ever thought you could, on the account, the report, revealing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is authentic. It is reliable.

You and I, living 2,000 years later, are certainly not eyewitnesses to what Jesus said and did. But we may securely rely on the eyewitnesses who did. Because of their witness, including that of Matthias, we become witnesses, if not eyewitnesses, to the truth, to the facts, to the record that Christ died and rose for the world and for us, and will come again to take us to our Father.

There are many things in history where we are not certain exactly what took place. But we have an ample number of eyewitnesses in the Bible to the One in whom we place our faith and our lives. Jesus and the early church thought there should be at least a dozen. They lost one and replaced him. The neat thing, however, is this. They did not rely on eyewitnesses alone. In a few days God sent them the Holy Spirit, the one, as Martin Luther wrote, who “calls, gathers, and enlightens” us in the “one true faith.”

Matthias was the original “twelfth man.” In the spirit of the Champion, Jesus Christ, we, too, are the “twelfth man” as we cheer for and witness to our Savior. You’re violating no copyright when you become a witness to him. Amen.