29 July 2010
Psalm 71; Judges 4:4-23; Acts 1:15-26; Matt. 27:55-66

Women in leadership over the nation, who would have imagined it! Deborah was judge over Israel and here we see that Barak was afraid to take troops against the Canaanites without Deborah’s presence and his fear disqualified him for the glory that would have been his in ridding the land of the wicked king Sisera and gave that honor to a woman who happened to be in the right place at the right time because her husband had separated himself from his clan and tribe and moved apart from them. Jael seized the moment that God gave her to dispatch, in a most gruesome way, the king who sought refuge in her tent. He had no reason to know or believe that she was an Israelite out in this place apart. God’s providence had her where she needed to be.

Matthew gives us the details about Joseph of Arimathea and the new tomb and the information that when he left the tomb that evening he rolled a great stone across the door of the tomb and left the two Marys who had witnessed the crucifixion there at the tomb. Matthew also supplies information regarding the motivation for keeping guards fixed on the tomb, that the disciples might steal the body to put in motion a myth of resurrection. The Pharisees urged Pilate to post guards to ensure no one stole the body. Pilate acquiesced to their suggestion and therefore there were guards and finally the tomb was sealed to prevent any foul play.

The disciples/apostles decide that someone needs to take Judas’ place and they have some quite specific qualifications. The person must have been with them since the beginning, from the time of Jesus’ baptism until the Ascension. The requirement, then, is an eyewitness to all the significant events of Jesus’ life with a particular focus on the resurrection. They are thinking forensically, to be a witness you need to have been there. It seems that Paul was God’s choice to fill out the apostolic complement of twelve and he was not there to witness these things but was a most powerful witness to these things. I feel certain Matthias was a good man and if he saw all these things he was most assuredly a blessed man, but this is the last we read of him. Paul sets the standard for all those who would come after him in Christian leadership, his willingness and zeal to testify about Jesus are the requirements that should matter to us in the church.

My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have rescued.