Chapter One

Prologue (1–3). The Lord’s instructions and promises to the apostles before the ascension, and the ascension itself (vv. 4–11). Peter’s first speech — on the election of a new apostle in place of the Iscariot, and the election itself (vv. 12–26)

Acts 1:1. The first book I wrote to you, Theophilus, about everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning, “My former book” — Slavonic “the first word,” Greek τόν μεν πρῶτον λόγον — a clear reference to the holy Gospel written earlier by Luke for Theophilus (Luke 1:1-4). Setting his new work in relation to the first as a second, St. Luke wishes to show that both in its external form and in the inner substance of the events narrated, this second book of his is the direct continuation and development of the first, together providing the most detailed possible history of the founding, spread, and establishment of the Church of Christ on earth. “About all that Jesus did.” By Chrysostom’s explanation — “about everything that is especially important and necessary,” “omitting none of the things essential and necessary by which the divinity and truth of the preaching are known” (Theophylact). These qualifications are made by the holy interpreters in view of the fact that the other Evangelist, John, acknowledged it as impossible to describe all the events of the Lord’s life (John 21:25). The literal meaning of the above phrase is significant: “about all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (ῶν ήρξατο ο Ιησοῦς ποιεῖν τι καί διδάσκειν). The author of Acts seems to wish to say that through his entire earthly ministry the Lord Jesus had only begun — had laid the beginning of his works and teaching. The continuation of this beginning will be all that follows in the deeds of his messengers and their successors until the end of the age (Matt 28:20), forming in its totality the completion of the great work of Christ — one not, however, bounded by any times or deadlines.

Acts 1:2. until the day on which he was taken up, having given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen, “Until the day when he was taken up.” Luke’s Gospel mentions the ascension of the Lord only briefly (Luke 24:50-53). This event was the conclusion of Gospel history and the beginning of apostolic history. For this reason St. Luke prefers to give a more detailed account of this event in the Acts. Before the ascension there was a charge — a testament of the Lord to the apostles — “giving commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles” — Greek εντειλάμενος τοις αποστόλοις διά Πνεύματος άγίου; more literally in Slavonic: “having charged the apostles through the Holy Spirit.” This refers either to his “promise” — to send the apostles the Holy Spirit, with the command to await this promise in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49) — or to his commandment to them to be witnesses and preachers “in his name of repentance and forgiveness of sins among all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47-48). This promise or commandment and charge of the Lord is given, in the author’s expression, “through the Holy Spirit.” “This is said,” explains blessed Theophylact, “not because the Son was in need of the Spirit, but because where the Son acts, the Spirit — as one in essence — co-acts and co-presides”... This Holy Spirit, by the Father’s good pleasure, filling even the Son himself in his humanity — “not by measure” abundantly (Luke 4:1; John 3:34) — is promised also to the apostles, as the uniting principle of the Father, the Son, and the humanity redeemed by him. “Whom he had chosen” — a reference to the exclusive authority and rights of the apostles, distinct from those of other believers. A justification for this exclusivity is also the fact that to these chosen ones alone did the Lord “show himself alive” after his suffering, so that they could be convinced and truthful witnesses and preachers about him to the whole world.

Acts 1:3. to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering, with many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. “After his suffering” — that is, also after his death, by which the sufferings were concluded. “By many convincing proofs” — that is, that he had truly risen, which they had long neither known how nor dared to believe; that it was truly he himself who had risen — the same one who had been crucified and died, and not someone else substituted for him; that it was not a specter of him but genuinely he himself who was alive again among them, for which reason he ate before them and was even touched by the hand of Thomas; and that for 40 days he continued his preaching to them about the kingdom of God. All of this, which had so long been both incomprehensible and barely credible to the apostles, turned out to be in accord with the Divine Scriptures, for the understanding of which the Risen One opened their minds, revealing in those Scriptures the full multitude of further proofs for faith in him as the true Son of God, worthy of the faith of all nations. “During forty days.” This precise indication of the time of the Risen Lord’s stay on earth after the resurrection is found only at this place in Acts. — The Gospel narratives of Mark and Luke give no indication at all of this period and speak of the Lord’s ascension very briefly, in the general context of preceding events. And the other two Evangelists (Matthew and John) do not mention the ascension at all. This makes the passage in Acts under consideration especially valuable, as filling in such important aspects of the final Gospel events. “About the kingdom of God” — that is, about everything pertaining to the new life of people redeemed by the Savior’s sufferings and called to form the new kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of the new Israel, the Church of Christ. How much the disciples of Christ stood in need of this, and how little they had yet penetrated these mysteries of the true kingdom of God, is shown by what follows in verse 6. The full initiation of Christ’s apostles into the mysteries of the kingdom of God and into worthy heralds and planters of it took place after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them (John 16:12-13), according to the Lord’s promise.

Acts 1:4. And when he had gathered them together, he commanded them: do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, about which you heard from me, “While staying with them,” Greek καί συναλιξόμενος, Slavonic more precisely — “and eating with them.” Literally — “and having eaten food with them in their assembly.” Eating food and the command not to depart from Jerusalem — at first glance seem somewhat difficult to connect into a single sentence. This combination of thoughts will not seem strange, however, if one introduces into them a single nuance that escapes attention in a quick reading. The apostle’s thought then runs as follows: “He was taken up, having given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also showed himself alive after his suffering, with many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God, having gladdened them and made himself known to them to such an extent that he even ate food before them, and commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem”... Thus the expression “and eating with them” — συναλιξόμενος — as it were crowns the greatest ground of the apostles’ joy and faith in the Savior, who had again set himself before them alive after his suffering, confirming this by many convincing proofs, among which the most certain and joyful for the apostles who did not believe for joy and were amazed (Luke 24:41) was his visible eating of food before all. “Not to depart from Jerusalem” — the Lord commands the apostles so that, having begun their preaching in distant places, they would not be slandered — that is, called liars (Synaxarion for the Ascension of the Lord). In Jerusalem this would have been far more difficult, for there were so many other witnesses apart from the apostles — reliable witnesses to the events they proclaimed. And the very one they proclaimed was still so vivid in everyone’s memory! With the command not to depart from Jerusalem is joined the covenant to await the “Promise of the Father” — that is, the sending of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit — John 14:16 and others. “The promise of the Father” — Greek ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός, more exactly in Slavonic “the promise of the Father” (cf. also Luke 24:49), the paternal promise, the promise of the Father. The sending of the Holy Spirit the Lord calls “the promise of the Father,” who already in the Old Testament (Isa 44:3 and others) through the prophets gave such a promise about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the time of the Messiah. “Which you heard from me” — more accurately in the Greek and Slavonic texts: ήν ηκούσατε μου, “which you heard from me.” Here, then, the Lord gives to understand that his promise is precisely the same promise of his Father that was given in the Old Testament and has now once more been expressed by the lips of the Son. There also sounds in the Lord’s words the thought that he, being “one with the Father,” uttered his promise, and this promise acquired force as the promise simultaneously of the Father, whose will the Son was fulfilling in this instance. Setting forth in greater detail the substance of this paternal-filial promise, the author of Acts cites it in the Son’s own words (Luke 3:16; John 1 and parallels).

Acts 1:5. for John baptized with water, but you, after a few days from now, will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. “For John baptized with water.” Slavonic “for John indeed has baptized with water.” Greek ότι Ιωάννης... and so on. This ότι stands in obvious connection with the preceding ἠκούσατε, linking both clauses in an explanatory way; they should be translated as: “to await the promise of the Father, which you heard from me — namely, that John baptized with water, but you...” and so on. The Russian “for,” if translating Greek ότι, is entirely incorrect; if μέν (ότι Ιωάννης μέν), then entirely unnecessary, since μέν... δέ are untranslatable particles. Properly, the immediate connection of ότι should be taken with the subsequent “you will be baptized.” In that case the expression “John baptized with water” acquires the significance of a simple insertion by the author of Acts not implied in the Lord’s expression “which you heard”; to such an understanding one is prompted by the circumstance that in the Gospel these words are not attributed to the Lord himself, but only to John (Luke 3:16; John 1:33 and parallels), although the Lord himself could of course have said them too, since by no means all his sayings found their way into the Gospel. The expression “to be baptized with the Holy Spirit” in correspondence to baptism with water signifies total filling with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as it were immersion in his cleansing and life-giving grace. On this St. Cyril of Jerusalem reasons thus: “This is not a partial grace, but an all-perfect power; for just as one who is immersed and baptized in waters is surrounded by water on all sides, so also they were baptized with the Spirit wholly; but water washes the exterior, while the Spirit, excluding nothing, baptizes everything down to the inmost part of the soul. And why be astonished?... If fire, entering the interior of coarse iron, makes its entire composition fire — what was cold is heated, what was black begins to shine; and if fire, being a material substance and penetrating the material of iron, acts thus without hindrance, then why be astonished if the Holy Spirit enters the very interior of the soul?” “Not many days from now” — again an imprecise translation of Greek ου μετά πολλάς ταύτας ημέρας, Slavonic more precisely — “not after many of these days” — after few days, or a few days hence. This happened exactly ten days later. This was how long the Lord judged his apostles should wait for the promised Comforter. Not more and not less. Not more, because a further prolongation of the days of waiting would have wearied those waiting, allowed distraction and inattention into their souls, and this would have made less fruitful the gentle breath and resting upon them of the Spirit of God. Not less — because a premature shortening of the days of waiting would have left many souls with an insufficiently intense thirst for the Comforter, with an insufficiently matured awareness of the importance of what lay ahead, with an insufficiently appreciated preciousness and consolation of the Coming One — all of which would likewise have weakened the power and significance of the coming of the Spirit of God.

Acts 1:6. So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying: Lord, is it at this very time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? “At this time?” Greek ει εν τῶ χρόνω τούτω — that is, “a few days hence,” when the disciples “will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). — “You restore the kingdom to Israel,” Greek αποκαθιστάνεις τήν βασιλείαν τω Ισραήλ. The apostles are clearly expressing the usual ideas about the earthly reign of the Messiah, with the subjugation of all other peoples and the acquiring by the people of Israel of earthly greatness, glory, and power. “Thus still sluggish were the disciples” — let us note with the words of a church hymn. Instructed during forty days about the kingdom of God by the appeared Savior, they still “did not quite clearly understand what this kingdom was, since they had not yet been taught by the Spirit..., they were still attached to sensory things, though not as much as before; they had not yet become better — yet they already thought of Christ in a higher way” (Chrysostom).

Acts 1:7. He said to them: it is not your concern to know times or seasons which the Father has placed in his own authority, “It is not for you” — a somewhat awkward translation of Greek ουκ υμῶν εστι — more exactly in Slavonic “it is not yours...” It is better and more accurately to render the Savior’s reply in such a form: “it is not for you to know...” and so on. The tactfully evasive reply of the Lord to so untimely a question — redolent of crude prejudices — on the part of his beloved disciples, at first impression seems as though it leaves them in those same prejudices, merely changing the time of their fulfillment; in reality this reply correctly reckoned on a change in the apostles’ views through the very course of events about to come in the near future: “but you will receive power” and so on. It would have been useless now, all at once, to completely disillusion the disciples of that with which they were too deeply imbued — all the more so in that their views and expectations, bearing the character of a crude prejudice, would somehow receive fulfillment, only in a higher, better, more noble sense. One may find an indication of this in the Savior’s expression καιρούς — it is not for you to know the times, or the means, circumstances, and character of the fulfillment of your hopes; all this the Father has placed in his own authority. The Russian translation of καιρους as “seasons” does not precisely express the Lord’s thought and gives it a superfluous tautology. The knowledge of the times and means of fulfillment of the hopes for the kingdom of the Messiah the Lord ascribes to the Father alone — “not because he himself did not know, but because the very question was superfluous, and therefore he beneficially answered it with silence” (Theophylact).

Acts 1:8. but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth. Turning the disciples’ attention away from what is unattainable and unnecessary, the Lord directs this attention to the transformation that awaits them in themselves, when of itself will arrive everything that is most important and precious to them: “you will receive power” — power precisely from the Holy Spirit “who has come upon you” — power to be “my witnesses... to the end of the earth,” witnesses and preachers about me, about my life, teaching, works, commandments, promises, and predictions. “This saying,” says blessed Theophylact, “is at once both an exhortation and an unchangeable prophecy” of the Savior about what the disciples of Christ will be and ought to be after receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. Hidden here also is a tacit hint at how, by what means, and when their life’s hopes for the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah — the kingdom of the new Israel — will be fulfilled, into which the old Israel will enter only as a part, without exhausting by itself the all-embracing power and riches of not earthly and temporal but spiritual and eternal goods of the new Kingdom. If before, the Lord had sent his disciples to preach the approach of the kingdom of God only to the Jews, forbidding them to go with this preaching to the Gentiles and Samaritans (Matt 10:5), now this restriction on apostolic activity is lifted. Jerusalem is only designated as the starting point or center from which the rays of Gospel Light are to illuminate the entire universe “to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:9. Having said this, he was lifted up before their eyes, and a cloud took him from their sight. “When he had said these things, he was lifted up.” In Evangelist Mark: — “after speaking to them” (Mark 16:19). In Evangelist Luke: “while he was blessing them,” he parted from them — that is, separated himself somewhat — and was carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51). “And a cloud took him out of their sight.” The concluding moment of the ascension, regarding which blessed Theophylact says: “he rose in such a way that they did not see it; but they saw the ascension; they saw the end of the resurrection, but did not see its beginning; they saw the beginning of his ascension, but did not see its end.” “The cloud” — probably a bright one (cf. Matt 17:5) — was here a sign of the special presence of God, of the special Divine power by which this glorious final earthly act of the Lord was accomplished.

Acts 1:10. And while they were gazing into the sky during his ascent, suddenly two men in white clothing stood before them “Two men in white robes” — undoubtedly angels (cf. Luke 24:4; Mark 16:5; Matt 28:2; John 20:12). “He calls the angels men,” says blessed Theophylact on this occasion, “showing the event as it appeared to sight, since the angels had in fact taken upon themselves the form of men, so as not to cause fear.”

Acts 1:11. and said: men of Galilee! why do you stand here looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him going up into heaven. With bewilderment and amazement the apostles must have fixed their gaze on heaven, where the Lord had just disappeared from them. This bewilderment — perhaps close to a state of stupor — is resolved by the angels with a gentle and tender, as it were, reproach: “why do you stand and look?” The time has come to turn from what is now a purposeless contemplation of the heights of the air back to ordinary reality, where a life full of vigorous activity in the apostolic calling awaits them. “Will come in the same way.” This clearly refers to the second glorious coming of the Lord, of which both he himself spoke to the disciples (Matt 25:31) and which will be in the same glorified body of his and likewise on the clouds of heaven (Matt 24:30).

Acts 1:12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, at a Sabbath day’s journey away. “Then” — that is, after receiving the instruction from the angels — “they returned to Jerusalem.” In the Gospel, Luke adds to this “with great joy” (Luke 24:52). The mention of the Mount of Olives as the place from which the apostles returned to Jerusalem after the ascension of the Lord clearly indicates that this mountain was also the place of the ascension. The author of Acts precisely defines at this point the location of the named mountain — evidently because Theophilus, for whom the book was intended, was unfamiliar with the topography of Jerusalem. “Near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away,” Slavonic “having a journey of a Sabbath” (Greek “having” — σαββάτου έχον οδόν) — that is, from the mountain having a journey of a Sabbath, or such a journey as was permitted on the Sabbath. This journey was determined by rabbinic strictness regarding Sabbath rest at 2,000 paces (about one verst), the distance at which the outermost tents stood from the tabernacle of Moses during the wandering of the Hebrews through the desert. If in the Gospel St. Luke (Luke 24:50) says that the Lord led them out “as far as Bethany,” this expression — not in contradiction to what has been said — means that the place of the ascension was located on the road from Jerusalem to Bethany. The latter was twice as far from Jerusalem as Olivet, at a distance of two Sabbath journeys, and is mentioned simply to indicate the direction in which the Lord led the disciples to the place of his ascension.

Acts 1:13. And when they arrived, they went up to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Acts 1:14. All of them were constantly devoting themselves with one accord to prayer and supplication, together with certain women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. “They went up to the upper room where they were staying... with one accord in prayer and supplication.” Perhaps this was the same upper room in which the last supper was held (“a large” upper room, Luke 22:12) and whose owner was probably among the Lord’s followers. Removed from the noise of the street, it provided the most convenient place for prayer gatherings, in which the Lord’s disciples prepared themselves through prayers and supplications for the promised baptism with the Holy Spirit. “Were staying” — not in the sense of an uninterrupted stay in the upper room throughout all 10 days. The expression merely means that the disciples did not disperse each to his own place, but having gone up to a certain upper room, constantly gathered in it afterward for united prayers. In the Gospel Luke 24:53 — “they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.” This means that the Lord’s disciples remained also regular visitors to the Old Testament temple worship that had not yet been replaced by new sacred rites. But already now these services evidently did not fully satisfy the Lord’s disciples, and their new impressions and beliefs were compelling them to develop their own new forms for their satisfaction. So, sometimes in the temple, sometimes in the upper room — they were constantly engaged in prayers and praises of God, continually gathering in expectation of the promised change in their orphaned situation. The names of the apostles (without Judas Iscariot) and their order are nearly the same as in the Gospels, with minor changes (cf. Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:17-18; Luke 6:14-16). Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus — is listed with the name Judas son of James (cf. John 14:22), while Simon the Canaanite is called the Zealot (“zealous one”), as one who belonged to the party of the Zealots, extreme zealots of the Law of Moses. The enumeration of the apostles’ names is intended to identify the principal persons who formed the center of the first Christian community and were the principal actors in the events described — the establishing and spreading of the Church of Christ, by the choice of its very Founder. “With the women.” This clearly refers to those pious devotees of the Lord who accompanied him during his life, serving from their possessions (Luke 8:2-3; cf. Luke 23:55). Precious is the mention of the “mother of Jesus,” as well as his “brothers,” who not so long ago did not believe in him as the Messiah (John 7:5), but now were evidently among the believers.

Acts 1:15. And in those days Peter, standing in the midst of the disciples, said “In those days” — that is, between the ascension and Pentecost. “Peter stood up among the disciples and said.” Peter, “the mouth of the apostles, always fervent and chief in the rank of apostles” (Chrysostom, Commentary on Matthew, XVI, 15), takes the lead here as “one to whom Christ entrusted his flock” (Theophylact), proposing to fill up the diminished rank of the Twelve, depleted by Judas.

Acts 1:16. (the assembly was about a hundred and twenty persons): brothers! It was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was the guide of those who arrested Jesus; The observation about the number of those assembled is intended to note the general unanimity prevailing in the assembly of the Lord’s disciples, and also to show the participation of their general assembly in the resolution of important matters, such as the one being described. In this case, the participation of the believers was expressed in the following actions: they “nominated” Joseph and Matthias (v. 23), “prayed” over them (v. 24), and “cast lots” (v. 26). Having in mind this procedure for resolving matters, Chrysostom says: “See how Peter does everything with common consent, and does not manage anything autocratically and as a ruler.” “About a hundred and twenty persons.” The actual number of the Lord’s followers was considerably larger, since at one of his post-resurrection appearances (1 Cor 15:6) more than 500 brothers are already mentioned. It is to be inferred from this that by no means everyone was present at the assembly described, but only those who had not gone far from Jerusalem and had been privileged to be witnesses of the Lord’s ascension. In the Apostle Peter’s speech there are two main thoughts: the falling away of the former apostle Judas, and the restoration of the apostolic rank by another person. Since the sad fate of Judas and his bold and terrible deed could shake those weak in faith, the Lord himself had already at the Last Supper explained this event to the apostles in the light of the Word of God (John 13:18). Now, like the Lord, Peter does the same, pointing out in what had occurred the fulfillment of what was foretold by the mouth of David by the Holy Spirit (v. 20).

Acts 1:17. he was numbered among us and received his share of this ministry; “Was allotted his share in this ministry” — that is, the apostolic ministry; he was called to apostolic service.

Acts 1:18. but he acquired a field with the wages of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines poured out; “Acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness” — an ironic expression referring to the consequences of Judas’s terrible crime (Matt 27:7-8). “Falling headlong he burst open in the middle,” Greek πρηνής γενόμενος ελάκησε μέσος, more exactly in Slavonic: “having fallen face down, he split in the middle” — literally: having bent headfirst downward, he burst in the middle, in the belly. The Gospel says that Judas “hanged himself,” and probably after the hanging his body fell off, which is why what the Apostle Peter says occurred.

Acts 1:19. and this became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that that field was called in their own dialect Akeldama, that is, field of blood. “Field of blood” — that is, a field bought with the money for which the murdered Jesus was sold. “In their own language” — evidently an insertion made by Luke for Theophilus, as is the explanation of the word “Akeldama.”

Acts 1:20. For it is written in the book of Psalms: let his dwelling place be desolate, and let there be no one living in it; and: let another receive his office. (re v. 16). The prophetic references to Judas are taken from two psalms — 68 (Ps 68:26) and 108 (Ps 108:8). Interpreting these prophecies as applied to Judas, St. Chrysostom and blessed Theophylact understand by “camp” the field (purchased: “for what could be more desolate than a cemetery?”) and the house of Judas, and by “office” the apostolic rank. In both named psalms of David, an innocent righteous man suffering from enemies is depicted, offering up in prayer to God for defense the threats against enemies cited by Peter. The application of these threats to Judas (with the change from plural to singular) is justified to the extent that the righteous man depicted here was a foreimage of the Messiah, who suffered innocently at the hands of enemies, and to the extent that Judas was their chief representative and the one responsible for the success of their evil scheme.

Acts 1:21. So it is necessary that one of the men who were with us throughout all the time that the Lord Jesus was present and moved among us, As the essential condition for election to the rank of apostle, Peter sets forth that the one to be elected should have been an eyewitness to the entire earthly ministry of the Lord, from the baptism of John to the day of the ascension. This apparently purely external condition had, however, important inner force as well: it gave greater reason to hope for the steadiness, fullness, and maturity of faith and love toward the Lord in such a person, and pointed, so to speak, to the greater solidity of his preparation — in uninterrupted communion with the Divine Teacher of all of them. Only such preparation — uninterrupted and from the Lord himself, by the totality of his deeds and teachings and events of his life during the period of his public ministry — gave the right to so high a calling.

Acts 1:22. beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, should become together with us a witness of his resurrection. “Become with us a witness to his resurrection.” This defines the essence of apostolic ministry — to be a witness to the resurrection of Christ (v. 8; cf. 1 Cor 15; Rom 10:9) — “not of some other thing,” says Theophylact, “because one who is found worthy to testify that the Lord who ate and drank with them and was crucified has risen — to him all the more can and should be entrusted the witnessing of the other events as well; because what was being sought was the resurrection, since it took place in secret, while the rest was evident.”

Acts 1:23. And they put forward two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias; “They put forward two” — that is, from among those satisfying the stated condition, two were nominated. “Why not many? So that no greater confusion would arise; besides, the matter concerned few people”... (Theophylact). The nominees — Joseph Barsabbas (Justus) and Matthias — are both unknown in Gospel history. Probably “they were from among the seventy, who were with the twelve apostles, and from among other believers, but ones who believed more ardently and were more pious than the rest” (Theophylact).

Acts 1:24. and they prayed and said: You, Lord, Knower of the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen “They prayed and said” — και προσευξάμενοι εῖπον — more exactly in Slavonic: “and having prayed they said.” Probably the prayer cited thereafter was pronounced on behalf of the assembly by Peter. The prayer is addressed, evidently, to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is here designated “the one who knows the hearts.” Since in another place Peter calls God the knower of hearts (Acts 15:8 and following), the use here of the same title applied to Jesus Christ expresses nothing other than faith in his Divine attributes and a confession of his Divinity. “Show” — that is, by means of the lot. “They did not say ‘choose,’ but ‘show,’ they say, the one chosen: they knew that all things are predetermined with God (Chrysostom).” Just as during his life on earth, the Lord himself chose his apostles, so now too, though he has ascended into heaven, having promised to abide in his Church always, he himself must choose also the twelfth Apostle.

Acts 1:25. to receive the lot of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned away, to go to his own place. “To go to his own place” — that is, to the place of condemnation, Gehenna.

Acts 1:26. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven Apostles. Decision by lot is an Old Testament institution, and in decisions by lot the action of God himself was seen (Lev 16:8 and following; Num 17; Num 34:13; Josh 14:2; 1 Sam 10:20). But — “why,” says Chrysostom, “do the apostles prefer selection by lot?” Because “they did not yet consider themselves worthy to make the choice themselves, and therefore wanted to learn (about this choice) by means of some sign... And the Holy Spirit had not yet come down upon them..., and the lot had great significance”... The holy Matthias, added to the apostles, preached the Gospel in Judea and Ethiopia and died in Jerusalem, stoned (his feast day is August 9). Joseph (Joses — Justus) was afterward bishop of Eleutheropolis in Judea and likewise died as a martyr (feast day October 30).