INSTRUCTIONS: Pray. Read the text. Then use the questions below as guides to write out what you have learned from the text. You can go as deep or as basic as you choose. You may choose to only answer based on the text you are studying, or you may decide to use other passages from the Bible, commentaries, or additional outside sources of information. You can answer in any order. You may choose to spend one day in only answering from the text and another day filling in information from other sources. You may add additional details that are not asked for in the narrative study format, such as historical context, archeological information, or questions you have for further study. Always complete your own study before reading my example so that you do not limit your own thinking.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have 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.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Characters Who is this story about? List all of the people in the story and what you know about them. In addition, there maybe animal, plant, and supernatural characters in the story. Of course, every story will include God as a main character. Sometimes, His presence is obvious, but sometimes, you must look deeper to find Him in the story.
Setting: Where and When? Check out maps to understand the relationship of ancient places to modern countries. How is this place connected to other places that you have read about? Is this place different from the locations just before this story started? Where will the characters go after this story is finished? Does this place have any spiritual significance? Part of the answer to this question might be a specific date and time of day, but a more important answer looks at what events happened before, what events happened after, and most importantly, what other events are occurring simultaneously. It is important to compare the events of the Bible with other historical events that were happening at the same time, but it is even more important to compare various Bible stories and events with each other. For example, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all provide differing perspectives on what was happening during one specific time period, so the other two books can provide a lot of insight to explain the situations occurring in a story from one of the other books.
Plot (Problem and Solution) What is the problem happening in the story? Why is the problem happening? Could the problem have been avoided? What are the consequences that result from the problem? Was the problem resolved? If so, how was the problem resolved? What was God’s preferred solution? What solutions did humans try that were not in alignment with God’s way of handling situations?
Text-to-Text Does anything remind you of other verses that you have read in the Bible? Do you want to search deeper for more texts that speak about this subject? If so, what is the consensus of the texts that you found, i.e., what lessons were communicated by the majority of the texts and were they different from the story that you are studying?
Text-to-World What general lessons about life are in the text? What similarities do you see between the story and our modern world? What differences are there between the story and today’s world?
Text-to-Self What specific application can you find for your own life, i.e., what message is the Holy Spirit trying to give you from this story? Have you ever experienced any situation similar to the story? Would you have reacted differently than the characters? If so, why
Text-to-God What does this story reveal about God and the way that He interacts with humans? Did God approve or disapprove? How do you know? Is there anything confusing about God in this story?
My Example Bible Study
Note: You can go much deeper than this example with lots of connections and details. You can also use this narrative format for studying the Bible at a more basic level with fewer connections and skipping textual cross-references. This format can be used to suit your own needs at the present time. You may decide to fill in more information at a later date when you have more time. I recommend that you either type or write your ideas because this is an attempt to understand the Bible at a deeper level. Thus, you may want to refer back to your notes and add information as you learn more.
Characters 120 people including the eleven chosen disciples: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, as well as an unspecified number of women and Jesus’ family including Jesus’ mother Mary and His brothers. There were also some other of Jesus’ followers including a man with three names—Joseph/Barsabbas/Justus and another man called Matthias. These two men had been followers of Jesus since His baptism by John the Baptist. In addition, Judas Iscariot is present at this meeting even though he is not alive. What to do about the empty space that his betrayal has left is the main idea of this passage. Finally, The Lord is asked to choose a replacement for Judas Iscariot, which He does.
Setting: Where and When The group is gathered at a house in Jerusalem. They are in an upper room that is large enough to accommodate 120 people. That was one large room! I wonder if it is in John Mark’s mother’s house. Jesus may have held His last supper in this same upper room. The upper room has become a symbol of a place to gather to worship God and receive spiritual knowledge because of these two events. On the other hand, maybe the upper room was just where the 11 and Jesus’ family were staying and the meeting of 120 people was at a different location.
The story starts with the people traveling back to Jerusalem from Mount Olivet after Jesus’ ascension, but some time may have passed since then. This is before Pentecost, so not much time could have passed since Jesus appeared to various people for forty days after His resurrection, and Pentecost takes place fifty days after Passover. The story makes a point that Mount Olivet was close to Jerusalem, so they could have made it back to the upper room on the same day that Jesus’ ascended. This activity could have taken place on the same day or a few days later.
The subplot describing the death of Judas Iscariot took place before Jesus’ death because Judas could not face seeing the results of his actions, so he killed himself so that he would not have to see Jesus crucified. The place was a potter’s field known as Akeldama, which is translated as field of blood. (Matthew 27:3-10)
Plot One problem that the apostles were dealing with was that they were waiting for something. Jesus had told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait (Luke 24:49). As they waited, they all agreed that their time should be spent in prayer, so corporate and individual prayer was their main activity for a while.
Sometime after this, Peter stood up and spoke to the 120 people who were gathered in the upper room (or elsewhere) telling them that Judas’ betrayal was spoken of by David (Psalm 41:9). At this point, Luke breaks in with the backstory of how Judas had not just hung himself, but when the rope broke, his body fell to the ground and burst open so that his guts spilled out on the ground. I think that there are several reasons for the mention of these details. One was to show that the word of Judas as a betrayer and his ignominious death had become famous in Jerusalem. The people could not ignore that he was a gory mess. This was the outcome of the Messiah’s betrayer. The second was to show the relationship to prophecy. Zechariah chapter eleven, especially verse 13, would have come to mind as the residents of Jerusalem retold the story of the betrayer and his gory death.
The main problem that the people are dealing with is that there are now only eleven disciples, i.e. eleven apostles. This is unacceptable for symbolic reasons. Jesus chose twelve witnesses to organize His church specifically to emulate the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel. (The new Jerusalem in Revelation 21:12-14 has twelve foundations with the apostles’ names and twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.) There were important reasons why there had to be twelve disciples, but now they were down to eleven. Death was not the issue. James was not replaced when he was killed by Herod (Acts 12:2). Betrayal was the issue. Judas Iscariot had vacated his position as a disciple; thus, a new one had to be chosen.
Peter gives scriptural justifications for the necessity of choosing a twelfth apostle. One reference is Psalm 69:25. This Psalm has some Messianic references although it is primarily David’s lament over betrayal. Peter is using this Psalm to show that Judas Iscariot has no place with those whom he betrayed. His house is desolate, so he has no inheritance with the twelve apostles. The other reference is Psalm 109:8. This is not because the Psalm was Messianic but because it presented the idea that when someone was rejected by God, another should be chosen to fill the position. In other words, Peter was not trying to apply these scriptures as prophecies that predicted what the twelve would do so that they had to follow the prophetic script, but instead, Peter was using these Psalm references as general scriptural guidance for how to handle a situation similar to what they were facing.
Then Peter gives the solution for the problem. They must choose a new apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. This new apostle must meet certain standards. He had to be someone who was consistently with Jesus and the others from Jesus’ baptism until His ascension. The reason for this is that they viewed their primary job as being witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Two men were found who met those qualifications. There may have been more, but these two men were the best of the lot in everyone’s opinion. Now, they chose to give the final decision to God by casting lots. Casting lots was a reputable tradition for finding out God’s will. Aaron cast lots to determine which of the two goats would be the Lord’s and which would be the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:8). Joshua cast lots to determine which tribe would receive which part of the promised land (Joshua 18). In the time of the apostles, the priests routinely cast lots to determine which duty would be assigned to each priest when they served in the temple.
First, the 120 people prayed asking God to choose the new apostle. Then they cast lots, and the choice fell on Matthias, so he became the replacement apostle for Judas Iscariot. Now, there were the correct number of disciples.
I have heard a few people act like Peter was bumbling around in this decision. These people think that Paul was the twelfth apostle chosen directly by Jesus, and that the choice of Matthias was not in God’s plan, but this does not make sense with the symbolism found throughout the New Testament. God ratified the choice at Pentecost when Matthias also received the Holy Spirit. There needed to be twelve leaders presented to the residents of Jerusalem as the new church was organized. Paul was more like a symbol of Joshua taking the baton from Moses and entering the promised land that was under the control of the Gentiles. He really did not fit the mold of a son of Jacob and founder of a tribe. I believe that it is quite likely that Peter was operating on Jesus’ instructions in leading out in the choosing of a new apostle.
Text-to-Text The idea of the role of apostles being witnesses reminds me of several texts. Jesus had previously explained their role as witnesses before His ascension. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Paul speaks of 500 people who witnessed Jesus after His resurrection. Thus, the 120 who were gathered in the upper room were less a fourth of the possible number of witnesses. “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (1Corinthians 15:6).
This also reminds me of when Jesus first chose the twelve disciples. “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him” (Mark 3:13-19).
Text-to-World & Text-to-God Of the 120 people who were there, we only know a handful of the names and stories. Even among the twelve special disciples, we know very little of the many activities that they participated in while serving Jesus, but Jesus knows the names of all His workers. He trains all of us and has jobs for each of us even if we are not part of the select group at the top that everyone knows about. There will be a lot of stories of interactions with Jesus when we get together at those mansions that Jesus has promised to prepare for us, and they won’t just be the stories of the twelve apostles, Paul, the Marys and Martha, and others that the Bible tells us about. There will be millions of stories of the activities of Jesus’ servants that we are unaware of. To us, all the other people are nameless, but not to Jesus. He knows, loves, and directs each and every one of us.
Text-to-Self Lately, I have had to participate in church board meetings and community outreach planning meetings. I hate meetings because I get bored easily and because I have yet to understand how to meet together in unity. One principle for meetings that I see in this passage is the importance of prayer at multiple stages in the decision-making process, not just at the beginning and end of a meeting. Also, I see that there are times that decisions need to be given to God once we have done everything according to the principles that God has given us. We will not always be able to decide which is the best out of two good choices. That’s when prayer is extremely important.
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