Case Study: The Case of the Eleven

A Math Problem?

If we find something in scripture that raises a difficulty or looks like an error, what should we do? If we believe there are mistakes in scripture, our confidence in God's word will be shaken. But as this case study will show, what looks like an irreconcilable problem could easily be the result of us having a blind spot.

The night of Jesus' resurrection, "he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen" (Mk 16:14). Since Judas was dead by that point (Mt 27:5), many assume the eleven means the twelve minus Judas. However, scripture also says: "but Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came" (Fourth gospel 20:24). Thus, the question is, who was at this event?

As will be shown, neither Thomas nor Judas were there when Jesus met "the eleven" and twelve minus two is ten. So, how could Jesus have met with "the eleven" on that night?

When this dilemma is pointed out, some say this shows there are errors in scripture, but they are wrong.

Now is your opportunity to check your Bible on this. Write down your thoughts about the answer. Then go on to the case study and learn why questions raised by scripture are best answered by God's word itself.

 

 

The Case of the Eleven

The Twelve Apostles

Revelation 21 describes "the holy city, new Jerusalem" and says, "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (v. 14). Some say Paul's name will be one of those names because he was used mightily by God. They defend this idea by saying Paul replaced Judas and became one of the twelve. But scripture does not say this, and this view will also keep a person from being able to answer the question that we are considering in this case study.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter talked to the disciples and in Acts 1:20-22 he said this about Judas:

"it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric [office] let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection".

The passage goes on to tell us:

"And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:23-26).

They prayed and asked for the Lord's guidance. Is there a reason to conclude the Lord did not hear their prayer and answer it? No. Why did they cast lots? Perhaps they believed the words, "the lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prv 16:13) and other verses like:

• "by lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses" (Jos 14:2), and

• "the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses" (Jos 21:8).

At times, the Lord wanted the lot to be used, and there is nothing that suggests the disciples were wrong to cast lots to find out who God had chosen to take Judas' place among the twelve. Paul was chosen to be an apostle. But Paul never became one of the twelve and scripture proves he could not have taken the place of Judas.

What was Jesus' purpose in choosing Paul? Jesus told Paul:

"I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee" (Acts 26:16).

Jesus said nothing about Paul replacing Judas or being counted as one of the twelve. Paul was called to be a witness of the things he had seen and would see. Did this make him the replacement for Judas? No. When Paul was called Saul of Tarsus, he did not meet Jesus until their first conversation on the road to Damascus (cf. 1Tm 1:13). He could witness to his encounters with Jesus from then on, but he could not be a witness to things he never saw.

Paul called Jesus' appearance to him on the Damascus Road a vision. This vision and others enabled Paul to testify Jesus was alive. Still, he did not see what the twelve saw. They saw the risen Jesus in a flesh and bone body, they saw him multiple times over forty days, and they watched as Jesus was taken up into heaven. In one of those appearances, he showed himself to his disciples and said, "behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Lk 24:39). Then after Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter told the disciples one of them had to "be ordained to be a witness with us of his [Jesus'] resurrection" (Acts 1:22). Paul could not be this witness because he did not see what they saw. In order to be a witness "with" the disciples, a person had to see what they saw.

Disciples, Apostles, and the Twelve

We use different terms to make distinctions and God's word also does this. The terms disciples, apostles, and the twelve denoted distinct groups. There is some overlap because the twelve were all apostles and every apostle was a disciple. Yet, all the disciples were not apostles and not every apostle was one of the twelve. There were many disciples and far fewer apostles. But the twelve were a unique group and Paul is never called one of the twelve.

Jesus had more than twelve disciples during his earthly ministry for Peter said Judas' replacement had to be one of the men "which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us" (Acts 1:21-22). At one point, Jesus chose twelve of the disciples and named them "apostles" (Mt 10:1-2, Mk 3:13-14, Lk 6:13). Yet, he still had other disciples. The terms "the twelve" and "apostles" denoted the same group of men until the events of the Book of Acts, when the term "apostle" was used of others, such as Barnabas, Paul, and James (cf. Acts 14:14, Gal 1:19).

There are more than twelve apostles in scripture, but the number in the twelve was always twelve. Judas forfeited his position in this group. Thereafter, "the twelve" referred to this same group, only with Matthias having taken the place (the bishopric) of Judas. Scripture says, "the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:26). Then after this, we see "Peter, standing up with the eleven" (Acts 2:14) on the day of Pentecost, not with the ten. This confirms Matthias had to be one of the twelve. Otherwise, Peter could not have stood up with "the eleven." Also, Acts 6:2 says, "the twelve called the multitude of the disciples." The term "twelve" in this verse makes no sense without Matthias.

The Apostle Matthias

After the author of the Book of Acts told of "Peter, standing up with the eleven," he referred to these men as, Peter and "the rest of the apostles" (Acts 2:37). He also used the term "apostles" at least a dozen times in Acts before he even mentioned Saul of Tarsus. Also remember, Peter stated the purpose of Judas' replacement:

"of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his [Jesus'] resurrection" (Acts 1:20-22).

The replacement for Judas did not merely fill an open slot among the twelve. This person was to be ordained as a witness of Jesus' resurrection and had to be with Jesus throughout his ministry. Matthias was with the disciples "all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among" them (Acts 1:21). He was also with them on the day Jesus ascended into heaven and this must affect our view of what Acts 1:2-4 says about that day:

"the day in which he [Jesus] was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me."

The writer of Acts included Matthias with the apostles in reporting on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:14 & 37) and also when he said, Jesus was "taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen."

The events in Acts took place long before they were written down, so the writer was looking back when he used the word "apostles" in verses where it had to include Matthias. Also, when Jesus told his disciples what would happen after he sent the Spirit, he said, "ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (Fourth gospel 15:27). So, Jesus himself connected their witness to them being with him from the beginning.

Learning What God Already Knew

After Jesus was taken up into heaven, Peter and the disciples:

"prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell" (Acts 1:24-25).

The past tense in their request lets us know they were not asking the Lord to make a choice. They wanted him to show them who had already been chosen! "Jesus knew from the beginning… who should betray him" (Fourth gospel 6:64), but the disciples did not know Judas was the betrayer until after the fact.

Something similar occurred in Acts 1:15-26. The Lord knew who would replace Judas, but the disciples did not know who this was until the lot revealed the Lord's choice to them.

The gospels were written after the events of Acts 1 had occurred. So, the gospel writers knew Matthias had been given the "ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell" (Acts 1:25), and this knowledge is reflected in their words. When Mark 16:14 and Luke 24:33-36 tell us Jesus met "the eleven" on the day of his resurrection, the term "the eleven" included Matthias (just as in Acts 2:14). It excluded Thomas because he was not present.

By the time Jesus rose from the dead, Judas was no longer one of the twelve, because his part in the "ministry and apostleship" had been forsaken in his act of "transgression" (cf. Acts 1:25).

Judas was one of the twelve until he betrayed Jesus with a kiss (Mt 26:47, Mk 14:43, Lk 22:47). After that, he was never again referred to as one of the twelve. Every time the twelve is mentioned from that point on, Matthias was included in this number, just as we see on the night of Jesus' resurrection.

The Conclusion to the Case of the Eleven

The gospels could refer to "the eleven" when Thomas was absent because Matthias replaced Judas by the time they were written. Yet, some say since Matthias is not mentioned again after Acts 1, this means he was not a legitimate apostle. So, what happens if we subject this inference to biblical scrutiny?

In Acts 1:12, Andrew, Thomas, and Bartholomew are mentioned, but they were not named again in scripture. Does this mean those three apostles became insignificant or irrelevant? No. That view is based on a false assumption, so it would not apply to Andrew, Thomas, Bartholomew, or Matthias. While it is true to say Matthias is not mentioned by name after the events of Acts 1, this also offers us an example of how men can draw false inferences from true statements. This is why it is good to validate our beliefs.

Is there sufficient evidence to prove the identification of Matthias by lot was valid? Yes, because scripture requires it, since terms like "the eleven" make no sense without him, as has been shown.

Also, we are told the risen Jesus met with "the twelve" (1Cor 15:5). Paul was not known to the disciples at that point, so this meeting could only have happened if this number included Matthias.

Lastly, notice what Paul said when he discussed the witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. He did not claim to be one of them, but rather in Acts 13:30-31, he said:

"God raised him [Jesus] from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people."

Paul indicated Jesus' witnesses were the ones who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem and saw him many days. If Paul did not count himself in that group, then neither should we.

On the morning of Jesus' resurrection, women who learned about this miracle, "returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest" (Lk 24:9). Judas was not there. Matthew 27:5 tells us, Judas "went and hanged himself" and then six verses later it says, "Jesus stood before the governor" (Mt 27:11). So, Judas died before Jesus did.

While scripture does not explicitly mention if Thomas was absent on that morning, it does tell us he was not with the eleven later that evening. Thus, this would indicate he was also the one who was absent when those women brought their report to the eleven.

Peter said God raised Jesus and "showed him openly" (Acts 10:40). Then he added, "not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead" (Acts 10:41). This gives us another fact that must be considered. He specified that the witnesses who had been chosen before by God were those who ate and drank with Jesus after he rose from the dead. However, since Paul never did this, he could not have been one of these witnesses.

Matthias, on the other hand, was with Jesus, "beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up" (Acts 1:22). So, Matthias was one of those who ate and drank with him in the days between the time he rose from the dead and was taken into heaven.

The end of the Case of the Eleven