Whatever Happened to Matthias? by Chris White

Matthias was selected as a replacement for Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Jesus and subsequent suicide.  Psalms 109:8 was used to justify this decision as it reads “let another man take his office.”  This Psalm can be read as describing the betrayal of the Messiah without a whole lot imagination and this is the directive given concerning the betrayer.  The Apostles sought someone who had followed Jesus from his baptism until the resurrection so that they would be a full witness to the Lord’s life as they were.  The ancient Jewish custom of drawing lots was used and Matthias was selected to join the other 11 Apostles.  It is interesting to note that when James was martyred some years later there was not a selection made to replace him.  This is because Judas lost his apostleship and there was the sense that 12 is the appropriate number corresponding to the 12 tribes of Israel.  Though James was dead, he had not lost his position among the apostles since he was faithful to the end and because he lives eternally.   Some have suggested that the Church acted in haste in their selection of Matthias giving him the spot that should have been given to the Apostle Paul.  This makes little sense when you consider the criteria the remaining apostles used in selecting Matthias.  Paul was a witness to the resurrection but not to the life and ministry of Jesus.  He was an apostle “born out of time” but a special instrument of the Lord with his own mission.  After Acts chapter 1 we read nothing of Matthias ever again in scripture.  He is associated with the churches Damascus and Armenia but no strong traditions exist beyond this.

Whatever Happened to Simon the Zealot? by Chris White

It is a fascinating study to see the diverse kinds of people whom our Lord selected to be part of his apostolic band.  Jesus, it seems, has little interest in ‘cookie-cutter’ ministry leaders and seems to delight in taking people for who they are and using that to further the Kingdom.  The Zealots were a nationalist party in first century Israel that were anxious to end Roman rule and weren’t above using violence to further their cause.  In fact, the Zealots were the undoing of Israel and eventually led to the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and were remembered for their last stand at Masada where they committed mass suicide to avoid capture by the Romans.  But Simon was called to follow Jesus and although he is not a major player in the story of the Gospels, we may rightly assume that at all the great events Simon was present and learning with the rest of the Apostles.  Outside the New Testament there is a very strong tradition that he was the apostle to North Africa.  Making this plausible is that North Africa was a Christian stronghold in the 2^nd Century which meant this project had to get underway early in the 1^st Century.  The 4^th Century historian Eusebius claims that Simon also evangelized Persia and Britain and died there as a martyr in AD 60.  The emblem of Simon is a saw because tradition has it that he was sawn in two.  Had he lived through such treatment he would have been the first pastor in history to possess the much-coveted ability to be in two places at once!  However he met his end, if even half of the tradition is true, Simon took his passion for political change and put it into spiritual change. And for that the Kingdom of God is the richer for it.