As
a former attorney, I dealt a lot with witnesses. I worked in the area
of insurance defense, and slips and falls and car accidents were the
focus of most of my cases. I learned that observant witnesses can be
really hard to find. Inattention leads to many accidents, and that is
also a feature of the way many people live their lives.
As
Peter explains that the believers need to identify one person to
replace Judas, he makes clear that the key qualification for becoming
one of the twelve apostles is that one needs to have been with Jesus
and the disciples throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth. This person
has to be a reliable witness.
What
good is adding another witness? Bible scholars agree that a parallel
is being carried forward—from the twelve tribes of Israel to the
twelve apostles, who will take the good news of Jesus to the whole
world. Adding Matthias will restore the number of apostles to twelve.
Further,
the apostles understand that good witnesses are needed to tell others
about Jesus. Witnesses are needed to bring a message about the
reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to fulfill the
mission that Jesus has given them.
Witnesses
are still needed today as well. We may not be able to give a
first-hand account like Matthias, but we are still called to be
witnesses for Jesus.