"He will come in the same way" – the second coming of the Lord will be similar to His ascension, that is, the Lord will appear again in His glorified body and in a way visible to all. This means that the Second Coming cannot be understood only allegorically, symbolically, as some rationalists understand it. The Lord Himself in the Gospel (Matthew 24:30) said that He would appear "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." This is now confirmed by the Angels. Thus, the second glorious coming of the Lord, bodily, visible, will be as certain as His bodily ascension.

"Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Mount of Olives..." From this it is evident that the Lord ascended from the Mount of Olives, which was located to the east of Jerusalem. Since Theophilus apparently did not know Palestine, St. Luke explains that the Mount of Olives was at a distance of the Sabbath journey: according to the teaching of the rabbis, on the Sabbath it was allowed to walk no more than 2000 steps, that is, about a verst [2]. Such was the distance during the wandering of the Jews in the wilderness from the outermost tents of the Jewish camp to the tabernacle. Josephus also determines the distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem, indicating that it is 5 or 6 stadia, which is just about our mile. The Mount of Olives, which had witnessed the Lord's greatest humiliation at His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, now became a witness to His highest glorification – the ascent into heaven, as the Son of God, to His Heavenly Father.

The Election of Matthew

(1:13-26)

Upon their return from the Mount of Olives, all eleven Apostles, whom the writer enumerates in full by name, dwelt, according to the Lord's commandment, together in the upper room, that is, in the upper room of the house, where, removed from the noise of the street, they could more freely devote themselves to prayer, preparing to receive the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it was the same upper room where the Last Supper was celebrated.

"They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication" – these words indicate the special religious upsurge in which the Lord's disciples found themselves after His Ascension. According to Luke 24:52, they returned to Jerusalem "with great joy." This joy was expressed by them in intensified unanimous prayers. Being in Jerusalem, like sheep in the midst of wolves, they, of course, were especially in need of strengthening themselves from all temptations by such a prayer. Together with the Apostles were also the wives, headed by "Mary, the Mother of Jesus." These, of course, were the myrrh-bearing women, witnesses of the burial and resurrection of the Lord. There were also the above-mentioned brothers of the Lord, who until recently "did not believe in Him" (John 7:5), and now were already among the believers. There were also other believers, about 120 souls in total.

The holy Apostle Peter, "the mouth of the apostles, always fiery and supreme in the face of the apostles," in the words of St. John Chrysostom, standing in the midst of the disciples "even in those days," that is, in the period of time between the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost, delivered a speech in which he proposed to the assembly to elect a new Apostle in place of the fallen Judas Iscariot. Here it is characteristic that "Peter does everything by common consent and does not dispose of anything autocratically and as a ruler" (Chrysostom). St. Peter explains the deep fall of Judas by the predestination of God, which, however, by no means destroys the free will of man. This predestination of God, expressed in prophecy, is based only on Divine foreknowledge: God knows how man will use his free will and predesceates depending on this. Removing the temptation of the terrible fall of Judas for others, St. Peter cites prophecies in order to show that there is nothing unusual in this event, for it had already been foretold, and therefore had to take place. The expression that Judas "received the lot of this ministry" cannot be understood to mean that he was chosen by the Lord by lot: it is only a figurative expression signifying election, which was often made by casting lots. The expression "lot of service" in Greek: "kliros tis diakonias" served as the basis for the subsequent naming of persons of the clergy "clergy". From the speech of St. Peter we learn the details of the terrible death of the traitor, about which the Gospels do not speak. The expression: "He acquired the land with unrighteous reward" is, of course, only a special figure of speech, indicating that with the money for which Judas betrayed Christ, land was later bought for the burial of strangers, nicknamed by the inhabitants of Jerusalem "Akeldama", which means: "Land of Blood". St. Luke explains this word to Theophilus, who did not know the Hebrew language: of course, Peter's listeners did not need this explanation, and therefore it cannot be thought that Peter expressed himself in his speech literally as the writer writes.

The prophetic words about Judas are quoted from two psalms, verse 68, verse 26, and verse 108, verse 8. Both of these psalms depict a righteous man innocently suffering from his enemies, and contain rebukes against his enemies in the form of prayer, mainly against one of these enemies. There is no doubt that this sufferer, whoever he was in historical reality, whether King David himself or someone else, was a prototype of the Messiah – our Lord Jesus Christ, and his enemies prefigured the enemies of the Lord, who betrayed Him to death on the cross. The chief of these enemies is Judas, the perpetrator of treachery, which is why the Apostle Peter changes the plural to the singular in the first utterance, and presents the rebuke against enemies as a rebuke against one enemy, Iscariot. "Let his court be empty" is a symbol of God's wrath against those who lived in this place of residence. Applied to Judas, this means: let his apostolic place be idle. Instead of the unworthy, it must be replaced by the worthy, which is expressed in the psalm: "Let another take his dignity."

Since the prophecy about the expulsion of Judas from the assembly of the Apostles was fulfilled, it is necessary that another one be fulfilled – about the replacement of the empty place: it is necessary to choose another in place of the traitor and thus complete the number of His 12 Apostles established by the Lord. Probably, this completion was given by the command of the Lord Himself, which is not recorded in the Gospel. St. Peter sets as a necessary and only condition for the election of a new Apostle that the one chosen should be an eyewitness of the entire earthly life and activity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is because the Apostles are first and foremost "witnesses," as the Lord Himself called them (Luke 24:48). They are to bear witness before the whole world of what they themselves have seen and heard (Acts 4:20) — this is the special power and persuasiveness of their preaching. On the other hand, being constantly with the Lord during the three and a half years of His ministry is a sufficient guarantee of his faith, love and devotion to the Lord: such a person can be entrusted with the fulfillment of the apostolic ministry.

«Начиная от крещения Иоаннова до того дня, в который Он вознесся от нас» — здесь как раз указывается начало и конец общественного служения Господа на земле, свидетелем которого должен быть избираемый.

«Свидетелем воскресения Его» — второе весьма важное условие избрания — главный предмет апостольского свидетельства — это свидетельство об истине Воскресения Христова, основной истины спасающей веры христианской. Необходимо, чтобы избираемый Апостол был свидетелем действительности воскресения распятого и умершего Мессии.

Удовлетворявших этим условиям оказалось двое: Иосиф, называемый Варсавою, который прозван Иустом, и Матфей. Оба они неизвестны в евангельской истории. Есть предположение, что они были из числа 70-ти учеников Господа. Окончательное избрание из числа этих двух одного Апостола предоставили Самому Господу через жребий после усердной молитвы о том, чтобы Сам Господь показал, кого Он избирает. Таким образом в избрании нового Апостола совершилось двоякое действие — человеческое и Божественное: Апостолы со всем обществом верующих избирают двух, Господь, по молитве их, указывает одного.

«Ты, Господи, Сердцеведец всех…» — так обратились они в молитве к Господу: Господь Сердцеведец, знающий душу каждого человека, знал, кто из двух более способен понести возлагаемое на него служение. Определение по жребию есть установление ветхозаветное и в решении дел по жребию видели действие Самого Бога (см. Лев. 16:8 [3] и д.; Числ 17:1 и д.; 34:13 [4]; Нав. 14:2 [5]; 1 Цар. 14:42 [6]). Писались обычно имена на листках; листки вкладывались в сосуд, встряхивались, и чей жребий первый вынимался из сосуда, тот и считался избранным.

«И выпал жребий Матфию» — в этом увидели волю Божию, «и он сопричислен к одиннадцати Апостолам». Святой Матфей проповедовал потом Евангелие во Иудее и Эфиопии и был побит камнями во Иерусалиме по приговору первосвященника Анана, особенного ненавистника христиан. Память его празднуется 9(22) августа. Другой кандидат Иосиф, он же Иуст, был после епископом Елевферополя в Иудее и тоже окончил свою жизнь мученической смертью. Память его 30 октября (12 ноября н. ст).