Who was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
οτι κατηριθμημενος ην συν ημιν και ελαχεν τον κληρον της διακονιας ταυτης
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Everywhere he calls it a lot, and by this he shows that everything here is the work of God's grace and of election. At the same time he reminds them of ancient times, expressing the thought that God made him His lot, just as He did the Levites.
Notice here also the wisdom of this man. Notice how, in the narrative, he does not insult Judas and does not say, "the vile and most vile Judas." He simply states what happened. He does not say that the Jews acquired it, but, "this man acquired a field," and rightly so. The one who supplied the money should justly be considered the owner, even if others made the purchase. The payment was his. Listen:
Then the apostle first recalls the sorrowful history of Judas. He describes this sad past in vivid language, and therefore somewhat figuratively.
For this reason, if verse 18 is understood literally, it seems to say that the Field of Blood, bought with the thirty pieces of silver at which the Savior was valued, was acquired by Judas himself before his death.
It would also seem to say that Judas committed suicide by falling from some height, after which his belly burst open and his entrails spilled out.
Yet the Evangelist Matthew says that Judas hanged himself, and that the Field of Blood was bought after his death by the chief priests (Mt 27:5-8).
Since the latter bought the field for the burial of strangers with the money Judas had received for Jesus Christ, the apostle regards it as the property of the betrayer of Christ. Speaking figuratively, he attributes to Judas the very purchase of this field.
Since this fact was known to Peter's hearers in all its details, they of course understood the true meaning of his words correctly.
Likewise, since Peter's hearers knew that Judas had killed himself by hanging, the apostle only reminds them of it by using the general expression, "he fell headlong." He does not define more closely how, or from what, he fell.
Keeping in mind what the Evangelist Matthew says about Judas's death, one may think that the tree on which the betrayer of Christ hanged himself broke, and the wretched man fell from a considerable height.
Yet the Apostle Peter adds something to the Evangelist Matthew's account of Judas's death. Only from this apostle's testimony do we know that, when Judas hanged himself, his belly burst open and all his entrails spilled out.
During the ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost, one of the apostles' first concerns was to fill the place left in their company by Judas's departure. This was done at the first gathering of the faithful in Jerusalem.
Because many of the five hundred to whom Christ had appeared in Galilee were absent, those assembled numbered one hundred and twenty. The fearful circumstances of the traitor's suicide, about which various dreadful accounts were told, left in their hearts a profound belief in God's immediate retribution upon the guilty man.
For his wickedness he was deprived of his high dignity and "went to his own place." His place had to be taken by someone else. This was considered necessary because Christ Himself had chosen twelve apostles, according to the sacred number of the tribes of Israel.
The Apostle Peter attended to this. He addressed the assembly with a speech in which he also set forth the very conditions of apostleship.
"He was numbered with us," that is, as a true apostle of Christ, chosen by the Lord Himself on equal footing with all the other eleven disciples and apostles.
"He obtained the lot of this ministry," that is, of apostleship, as did the other apostles. "Lot" means an allotted possession or state.
This does not mean that the apostles, and Judas in particular, were chosen by the Lord for apostleship by lot. It is only a manner of expression, borrowed from the casting of lots used by the Jews in certain cases to decide one matter or another.
The expression means that Judas was chosen to be an apostle of Christ.
The phrase "lot of ministry," in Greek κλῆρος τῆς διακονίας, probably served as the basis for calling those specially appointed in the Church of Christ to the work of serving God, that is, persons of the sacred order, the clergy.
They are so called because they are appointed to this ministry through election and consecration in succession from the apostles.
Peter speaks of Judas's being numbered among the twelve apostles, evidently to stir up sorrow over this matter, which greatly troubled them all. The traitor's deep fall and his terrible death could not but arouse heavy thoughts.
Moreover, this could provide an occasion for scandal and even for reproaches. The question arises: if Judas's traitorous instability was known, why was he numbered among the twelve?
Why, in particular, was he chosen as keeper of the common purse (see Jn 12:6)? Undoubtedly the Lord had a special purpose in this.
The irretrievably ruinous Judas was surely to serve as an instrument for the fulfillment of some deep and wise plan of the Savior. One of our interpreters says the following about this.
"The lot of Judas's ministry was the lot of bearing witness as a supporter of Jesus' enemies and as the betrayer of his Teacher. If only the faithful had borne witness to the high purity of the Lord's life, teaching, and intentions, they could have been seen as friends and accomplices.
"The Lord's enemies, apart from Judas, could not have desired a better witness at the trial. Yet even for gold they extracted nothing useful for themselves from the covetous traitor, and of necessity had to bribe other false witnesses."
The expression "lot" for apostolic ministry is remarkable. It is borrowed from the Jewish custom of deciding certain matters by casting lots. Thus lots were cast for the garments of Jesus Christ; see Mt 27:35.
In Greek, lot is [...]. For this reason all those numbered among sacred ministry are called "clerics," and their whole body is called the "clergy."
The lot of the lost Judas, who did not value his lofty position, is the more lamentable the higher that position was. He was equal in right within the circle of the Apostles, and from the Lord Himself he "received the lot of apostolic ministry."
It pleased the Lord to receive among the Apostles a man who perhaps had certain good qualities, but later proved to be a traitor.
That the prophetic word concerning Judas's perdition had to be fulfilled in no way excuses the vileness of his betrayal. No one compelled him to it. On the contrary, Christ warned him against his crime.
At the last Paschal supper the Savior spoke aloud to all the apostles, not excluding Judas, who was present with them: "The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
Then Judas, who betrayed Him, said, "Is it I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said so" (Mt 26:24).
Therefore, if Judas could disregard so powerful a warning, his sin was an act of free will. The abuse of freedom does not cease to be sin because it was foreseen by the Lord's omniscience.
If Judas's betrayal was turned by the all-good providence into an instrument for attaining the saving goal, then glory and thanksgiving belong to the wisdom and goodness of God, who directs evil toward good.
Yet the act of an evil will remains what it is. In the person of Judas it is all the more worthy of condemnation because, even after committing the crime, he could have been saved if he had not fallen into despair.
Despair destroyed him. If, having recognized the gravity of his sin, he had turned to the Lord with hope in God's mercy, begged forgiveness, and promised to devote the rest of his life to works of repentance, there is no doubt he would have been pardoned.
Perhaps he might even have proved useful to the Church of Christ, like Paul. Paul had been a cruel persecutor of Christians, but, after repenting, he became a chosen vessel of God's grace and labored more than all the Apostles in preaching the Gospel.
Thus, although Christ knew that the one He had chosen as an Apostle would betray Him and perish, Christ was not the author of his crime or perdition.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 12 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS