The Gospel of the Forty Days: Appointing Bishops and Deacons
Acts 1:15-26 relates what happened next.
Peter quotes Psalm 109:8, “His office let another take.” The Greek term for
“office” both in Acts 1:20 and the Greek OT for Psalm 109:8 (which Jesus and
the Apostles used) is the word episkope meaning an office of lawful
authority, usually translated as held by a “bishop” or “overseer.” It is the
source of our English word “episcopal.” Peter now specifies that the
replacement Apostle must be someone who accompanied them all the time Jesus was
with them. (Had Jesus told him that also?) Two names were proposed. They
prayed. They cast lots (cf., Prov 16:33). Matthias was chosen.
Imagine you are one of the Twelve – well,
eleven now – and you are with the other followers of Jesus – 120 of you
together – praying for the coming of Holy Spirit (Ac 1:15). Peter now stands up
and you see he has a new air of authority, or maybe it’s new confidence. So you
have a hunch about what’s coming. You remember during one of Jesus’ talks after
His resurrection (Ac 1:2-3) that Peter had asked Him about His saying that they
would sit on twelve thrones (Lk 22:29-30) – but now there were only eleven and
– (no one wanted to think, let alone speak, of Judas, that traitor). (Remember,
this is just your imagination now....)
Jesus had replied, “Elect the twelfth. It
is your duty, Peter, to do so.”
“Mine? Not mine, Lord! I ask You to choose
him.”
“I elected My Twelve once and I formed
them. Then I appointed their chief. It is now time for you to walk, you are
ready.”
And so you eleven had speculated about
who, but without coming to any conclusion.
Now Peter motions you and the other nine
aside and you think: well, maybe this is it.
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| St. Matthias |
This was the first occurrence of Apostolic
Succession in the Church. (Catechism 77.)
Now the terms episkope (the office) and
episkopos (the person) are used eight times in the NT, all in Acts or the
Epistles; it is not used prior to Jesus’ Ascension and the establishment of His
Church. As in Psalm 109, it was used by the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT
and so the Apostles adopted the Greek term to denote the office of Bishop as
successors to the Apostles (cf., 1 Tim 3:1 ff).
Another word the Apostles adopted as a
title for an office we see in Acts 6:2. The word literally means to wait on
tables. Diakoneo is the verb form used here, and diakonos is the noun,
“Deacon.” The term is used many times throughout the NT in reference to being
of service or acts of service, but the specific meaning of a Deacon is used
only six times, all in the Acts and Epistles.
St. Clement of Rome, ordained a priest by
St. Peter and later elected Bishop of Rome, wrote in 96 AD (1 Cle 42:1-5), “The
Apostles, after receiving their orders [cf., Ac 1:2] and being fully convinced
by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and assured by God’s word [cf., Ac
1:3], ... [preached and] ... appointed their first converts, after testing them
by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this
any novelty, for Scripture had mentioned bishops and deacons long before. For
this is what Scripture says somewhere: ‘I will appoint their bishops in
righteousness and their deacons in faith.’” Clement’s quotation is from Isaiah
60:17, but does not follow the Greek text exactly (which in turn differs from
the Hebrew). He may have had an earlier Greek text than what has came down to
us. Nevertheless, we have his testimony that Jesus’ commands and instructions
to the Apostles during the forty days after His resurrection included not only
to preach but also to appoint their successors for the future.
Another very early witness is the
Didache, written towards the close of the First Century, which says (15:1),
“Select, then, for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord.”
So Jesus’ “gospel of the forty days”
included that the Apostles must appoint their successors. That is not all. More
to come!
Dibby Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
References:
The imaginary scene is from Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the Man-God, Picozzi, tr., McLaughlin, rv. (Italy: Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl: 1999), p. 856 (end of #631; cf., #635, p. 878 ff.).
The imaginary scene is from Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the Man-God, Picozzi, tr., McLaughlin, rv. (Italy: Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl: 1999), p. 856 (end of #631; cf., #635, p. 878 ff.).