Acts 1:13 is
not just a list of apostles. The use of the word "and" follows a pattern which
links various apostles together, so that the passage describes five apostolic teams. These
are
- Peter, John, James and Andrew. (They seem to have been the Jerusalem team).
- Philip and Thomas (Thomas was the prophetic one because he liked to see things in black
and white (John 20:24-29).
- Bartholomew and Matthew.
- James the son of Alpheus and Simon the Zealot (the latter was certainly zealous and
probably prophetic).
- Judas the son of James (had no partner because Judas Iscariot had dropped out).
These men had already proved that they could work together in pairs (Mark 6:7,12,13).
The apostles cast lots to choose a replacement and partner for Judas the son of James.
(Acts 1:21-26). Matthias was selected. Many commentaries say that the eleven got this
wrong, because Matthias was not heard of again. They say that Paul was the one God made
the twelfth Apostle. This understanding is incorrect. The twelve were not a select group,
with a special role; they were just the first of many apostles. Matthias was chosen, not
to maintain the size of the club, but as an apostolic partner for Judas.
The reason that Matthias was not heard of again was that he obeyed Jesus command to
take the gospel to the nations (Acts 1:8). While the first team stayed in Jerusalem area,
the other four teams took the gospel to the four corners of the earth. According to
tradition Thomas died in India. The book of Acts records the growth of the church in Asia
Minor, but that is only part of the story of the early church. We tend to forget that Col
1:6 reports that the gospel was bearing fruit all over the world. This was the fruit of
the forgotten apostles. Their deeds are not written in the scriptures, but they are
recorded in heaven.