Lives of Scripture

Joseph, known also as Barsabbas and by the Roman surname Justus, appears only once in Scripture, as one of two men put forward to replace Judas Iscariot among the twelve apostles after Jesus' ascension (Acts 1:23). Like his fellow candidate Matthias, Joseph met Peter's stated qualification for the role: he had accompanied the apostles the whole time the Lord Jesus was among them, from John's baptism until the ascension, meaning he too had been a faithful, largely unnamed follower of Jesus throughout His entire public ministry (1:21-22). The gathered believers prayed for God to reveal which of the two men He had chosen for this apostolic ministry, and then cast lots in the traditional Israelite manner of discerning God's will in a matter (1:24-26). The lot fell to Matthias rather than to Joseph, and Scripture records nothing further about Joseph's life or ministry afterward. His brief appearance nonetheless preserves an example of quiet, faithful discipleship offered without any guarantee of the recognition or office being sought -- Joseph had walked with Jesus from the beginning just as faithfully as Matthias had, and his willingness to be considered for so significant a role, even though the outcome went to another, reflects the same wholehearted devotion to Christ shared by many early disciples whose names appear only once, if at all, in the biblical record.