What does Acts 1:20 mean?
After a brief interlude in which Luke gave Theophilus (Acts 1:1) more detail on the death of Judas (Acts 1:18–19), he picks up again with Peter's speech to the 120 disciples who are sitting in the upper room, waiting for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 1:15).While following Jesus, the disciples had a hard time seeing where their Scriptures, our Old Testament, fit in to Jesus' ministry. They believed Jesus to be the great Messiah and King. However, they assumed that meant a conqueror-warrior who would free Israel from Roman oppression and bring in a golden age for the Jews. They didn't realize Jesus' kingdom is yet to come, but first He had to be the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Now, with the temporary gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), Peter begins to see more clearly.
First, Peter references Psalm 69. David is listing the abuses he endured from those who were trying to destroy him with lies and force him to repay what he did not steal (Psalm 69:4). He says he became a stranger to his brothers (Psalm 69:8), much like Jesus (Mark 3:21, 31), and that his oppressors gave him "sour wine to drink" (Psalm 69:21), which Jesus experienced on the cross (Matthew 27:48).
The quote is from Psalm 69:25. David prayed that the camp of his enemies who wrongly persecuted him would be abandoned. Applied to Judas, this is fulfilled almost poetically, as his estate, the thirty pieces of silver, was used to buy land for a cemetery (Matthew 27:3–10).
The following quote is from Psalm 109, an imprecatory psalm in which David calls for extreme prejudicial judgment against his deceptive accuser. The request for another to "take his office" (Psalm 109:8) is tame compared to some of David's other requests, but it applies to the people sitting in the upper room.
"Office" is from the Greek root word episkopē from which we get our word episcopal. In church government, an episcopate church is one that has a single leader as opposed to a presbyterate church which is ruled by a board of elders. One's "office" is that over which they have authority to inspect and manage. Jesus promised the twelve disciples that when He reigns they will "sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). Since Judas was disqualified from such a service, the remaining apostles need to find a replacement.
