Should Paul have been an Apostle? IOW, did Peter botch it?
Was Paul meant to replace Judas as one of twelve? It’s a common question in some circles, and I’ve argued for it without even studying the topic. Instead – I see it now – I glommed onto an Americanism: whoever is the most influential and does the most good – whoever is the winner – is obviously the chosen one. I doubt this is accurate after studying.
The disciples spent forty days with the risen Christ when Jesus admonished them to return to Jerusalem and to, ‘wait there for the promise, the Holy Spirit’. Remember, in previous days and ages, the Holy Spirit wasn’t a universal thing. Instead, G, fell temporarily on people, conferring power and righteousness. But at this point in their journey, the hapless disciples might not have understood what this injunction from the Savior even meant.
After Jesus rose in the clouds, they trudged back to Jerusalem, and it makes sense to me that, while in prayer, Peter is overcome with the idea of replacing Judas. He gives brief instructions to the group, reminding them that “…the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke…” Could this have been – in their minds – what they were waiting for? Is this the falling of the Spirit?
Peter continues, and the group of about 120 prays together and then asks two men, Joseph and Matthias, to drop lots into a jar. Maybe they were colored stones, maybe short and longer sticks? We don’t know, but this was an established way to understand G’s will. The group returns to prayer, asking G to select a man to replace Judas. The jar is tipped, and Matthias’s lot falls first. From this point on, he is considered one of the twelve, and no reading argues otherwise.
Even Paul argues for it.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains that after rising, Jesus showed himself to Peter, then to the twelve, and then to me, Paul. This was a perfect place for Paul to call out the usurper as a fake disciple. And he probably would have: Paul never strikes me as one to mince words. But he doesn’t, and there’s no indication anywhere that Paul disagreed with the selection.
It gets a little sticky here, but a detractor of Matthias is that he’s not mentioned in the Bible beyond his selection. This is true, but remember that The Bible is a collection of letters compiled by men who were reading piles of letters. Some of these letters were already considered scripture – the writings of Luke, for example – and some were just weird and odd. For an example of the latter, feast your eyes on The Revelation of Peter. I’ll warn you that it’s not fit for the kids to read a verse at a time around the dinner table. There’s also a document called The Acts of Andrew and Matthias purporting to tell something of Matthias’s ministry and last days. It was written before the fourth century and tells the story of Matthias called as a missionary to the lands of the man-eaters. Odd, but less odd.
So what of Brother Paul? No one questions whether Jesus called Paul. His calling and conversion is one of the most riveting of New Testament stories. He was clearly called but to a clear and specific purpose: to take The Way to the Gentiles, to foreigners, to non-Jews. It gives me a small comfort that the Jew of Jews – the one man I would pick to live and preach in the heart of Jerusalem – was sent to foreign lands to wear the yoke of the King.
Paul was called and appointed to be sure, but not as one of the twelve…
References:
https://overviewbible.com/matthias-the-apostle/
The Blue Letter Bible
Catholic Answers
Christian Questions
Something interesting I found along the way:
Bart Ehrman asks the question of, “Did Paul and the Other Apostles Get Along?”