Feast of St. Matthias/ 7th Day of Lent
Beloved. Today is the day holy Church remembers St. Matthias. He was the one chosen to take Judas’ spot after he killed himself. It is interesting that except for the account in Acts 1 of St. Matthias being chosen as apostle, there is no other mention of him by name in the lists of disciples or followers of Jesus. However, we do know that he was with Jesus all during His earthly ministry. After all, that was one of the qualifications as St. Peter said [Ac 1. 21-22]: So one of the men who accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection. Notice, the qualifications for apostleship: had to be with Jesus during His entire public ministry that began with Jesus baptism and ended with His ascension. They would have heard Jesus’ preaching and teaching; they would have seen His miracles; they would have seen the resurrected Jesus. Only two men fit the bill; and St. Matthias was one of them. There are and can be no other apostles than the 12—Matthias taking Judas’ spot and St. Paul called directly by Jesus later. The ministry and confession of these men is what Jesus builds His Church on.
And after the account in Acts 1 there is no other mention of St. Matthias in Holy Scripture. There are various traditions in the church about what happened to St. Matthias after this. One has him preaching and dying for the faith in what is the modern day country of Georgia; another has him in Ethiopia among cannibals; another keeps him in Jerusalem either dying of old age or being stoned and then beheaded. This tradition is picked up by one of the symbols of St. Matthias: a Bible and a battle-ax. The Bible indicates he was a great preacher of the word and the battle ax pointing to his martyrdom. Another symbol for St. Matthias is a pair of dice, reminding us of the Acts 1 account: And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Tonight as we ponder our Lord’s holy Passion, we come to see some of the events that led up to there being a need for St. Matthias—namely Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. This grave sin, Satan used not only to try to destroy Jesus but to lead Judas into despair which ultimately led him to taking his own life. Remember: Satan works only to destroy. Our text: Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray [Jesus] to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray Him. Here we see that this was a willful, premeditated sin. Perhaps Judas was angry because Jesus had recently reprimanded him after Judas had complained when a woman anointed Jesus with expensive ointment saying [Jn 12.4 ff.]: Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor….Jesus said, “Leave her alone…For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” This must have bothered Judas and he let it fester and Satan came along and stoked the flames even to the point of, as St. John [13.2] records, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot…to betray [Jesus]. Notice the work of the devil: he already had led Judas into the sin of greed, thinking that more money—not Jesus, not life in Him—but money would be the source of satisfaction and joy in His life, as St. John [12.6] records about Judas: was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. And perhaps Satan used this greed mixed with anger to lead Judas into sin/ action. But the fact remains: On his own initiative Judas then went to the chief priests in order to betray [Jesus] to them. He was responsible for his sin. All the analyzing and all the seemingly “understandable reasons” do not take away sin. Sin remains sin. And like we learn from the terrible example of Judas, by his sin and continued impenitence—not only did he lose God’s grace by rejecting it but he became a willing tool of Satan: he went to the chief priests in order to betray [Jesus] to them.
The lesson for us this Lenten season is clear: let us examine our hearts and life. Where there is sin, let us repent of it and strive in the power of the Holy Spirit to root it out of our lives. Where we see Satan trying to get a toe-hold in our lives, let us fight all the more against him. It is a very fearful thing when we let sin become the master, when we as slaves do its bidding. The devil will use various tactics to try to get us to minimize our sin, explain it away, etc. etc. But sin is still sin. And like he did with Judas, he will do that until our load of unrepented sin is so great and then he makes us feel the greatness and guilt of our sin to try to get us to despair like Judas did. This is why Lent is so vital for us—a time to recognize our sin—what they truly are and what we have truly earned by them; but also a time to recognize that we have a Savior from those sins: Jesus and that forgiveness is rooted in His holy, sinless life and His innocent suffering and death for us/ our sin.
The rest of the text we are pondering this evening is the preparation for that Passover meal that Jesus would spend with the disciples and in which He would give His Church for all time to come the Blessed Sacrament of His body and blood. And in particular we focus on Jesus’ words: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?
That is a vital question for us to hear Jesus asking us this holy season of Lent: Where is My guest room? The literal background to spiritual question for us is quite interesting. And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” What does this show? It shows Jesus is all knowing. He knew exactly the time, the place, and the events. This is what we call His omniscience; He knows all things before they happen. Like He knew what Judas was up to betraying Him. This knowing all things—that is a divine characteristic; it is only something God can do. Like Jesus does here, giving a detailed scenario, showing His divine omniscience means that Jesus is true God. Even here as He is about to enter His greatest sufferings, He does it with full knowledge of what is before Him. And this scene is evidence of that—that all this did not happen to Jesus unexpectedly.
Although Jesus knows all this, He still continues on His divine mission, the divine plan that would take Him to the suffering of the cross for the sins of the world. He not only does not shirk from the path of duty, He gives direction to a very vital part of it—to prepare the Passover meal in which He would give His Church the Sacrament of His body and blood.
So here, as we ponder tonight spiritually the question that Jesus asks each of us: Where is My guest room?, how does Jesus ask us that question? –Isn’t asked of us in love? After all, the very One who knowingly and willingly went the path of cross and suffering for us and our salvation, wouldn’t He ask us in His great love for us—that great love that He showed us. In love and lowly and humbly Jesus asks us: Where is My guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? –that is, where I may come in love and stay and give all My gifts and blessings: He doesn’t come commanding and commandeering. Instead this Lent let us hear Jesus asking us for this guest room in our hearts, where we are ready to welcome and receive Him as He comes to us in love, giving us all His heavenly gifts and blessings.
Yet, let is not forget that little word, “My”: Where is My guest room? Because of His saving work, because He saved us from our sin and from eternal death and damnation, shouldn’t Jesus expect to find room in our hearts? Shouldn’t He expect to find faith there? Of course. Like here in our text, on that first Maundy Thursday, Jesus expected a guest room, Where is My guest room, and knew that the guest room would be given Him: He will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. This Lent, as we hear Jesus ask us for what is rightfully His, Where is My guest room, let us, then prepare that guest room of our heart for Him. We prepare it by repentance, as we take the holy Ten Commandments in hand and like a bright torch shine it into every nook and cranny of heart and life seeing all of our sin, seeing what we did that we shouldn’t have done, seeing what we didn’t do that we should have, looking and seeing the motivation behind all our works. As we do that, we will see much sin; we will see great and horrible sin. But we dare not despair like Judas did. Instead, by faith we welcome Jesus into that guest room of our heart for Him to come and stay and bring His great and mighty gifts and blessings: forgiveness of sin, the Holy Spirit, peace with God, eternal life.
So do you see the amazing thing what Jesus does here? He will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Jesus Himself prepares His guest room. Left to ourselves and our own devices we couldn’t/ wouldn’t. But by the work of the Holy Spirit in the word—by the holy word of Law showing us our sin and by His glorious comforting word of the Gospel giving us the fruits and blessings of Jesus’ work namely, the forgiveness of sins—He creates that faith—faith that looks for and welcomes Jesus as He comes and asks: Where is My guest room?
Yes, the rather circuitous way that Jesus had His disciples find the upper room showed Jesus’ divinity, that He is true God knowing all things. But perhaps there was also another/ “practical” reason Jesus used this way. Remember what is going on that Jesus knew because He is the all-knowing God that the other didn’t: And [Judas] sought an opportunity to betray Him. Had Jesus announced that they were going to a certain place to celebrate the Passover, wouldn’t it have been possible for Judas to tip off the Jews to come there and arrest Jesus—like he did in Gethsemane? So this way, Judas would not know and could not tip them off. So what is important about that? It’s important because it again shows that Jesus, not His enemies, dictates the timing and events of His Passion; it shows that no one takes Jesus’ life from Him but He willingly lays down His life for us and our salvation. And it also shows that Jesus did not want to be disturbed. He wanted these final hours with His disciples to teach and prepare and strengthen them in the faith for what was coming up. Jesus wanted this undisturbed block of time in order to give His Church the Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood. In the midst of that final, OT Passover, Jesus now gives His Church down through the ages His presence in the Holy Sacrament: This is My body…This is My blood poured out for you for the forgiveness of sin. Whenever we celebrate the Holy Sacrament, there Jesus is in our midst; we eat His body and drink His blood. We dare never doubt our forgiveness and salvation for there is the very body and blood given and poured out that we are receiving in our mouths; there is the very crucified but risen Jesus with whom we, individually and together, are uniting; He is our Light and our Salvation. What great blessing! The treasure stores of heaven are opened to us as Jesus comes to us asking, Where is My guest room? And when Jesus asks us for the guest room of our heart, not only will He prepare it by His word and Sacrament but we have the glorious promise of His continued grace and presence: Where is My guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? INJ