Removal from office
Think of your dream job. Ponder for a moment why it would be such an ideal job.
Now think about how you would feel if someone unexpectedly replaced you in that job.
It would hurt, wouldn't it? But how badly? Would you put it on a par with any of these:
- dying young;
- leaving your children fatherless and your wife a widow;
- having your children go hungry and homeless, with nobody to show them any pity;
- having any prayer you utter to God counted as sin against you;
- knowing that your father and mother can never be forgiven for their sin;
- being so shamed and dishonoured that your descendants blot you out of the family tree.
Would you rank the pain of losing a job—even your dream job—in that sort of list?
King David does in Psalm 109. In that Psalm, he prays for God to deal with his accusers—those who are opposing him and falsely accusing him. He asks for God to bring them down. He asks God to deal harshly with these wicked people who are opposing God's appointed king with lies and hate.
Amongst these other curses listed above, David prays “may another take his office” (v. 8). It's an odd sort of curse for any of us who are anything other than basket-case workaholics.
But in Acts 1:20, Luke appropriates this curse to describe the fate that has befallen Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. All of a sudden, that curse takes on new significance. Judas is about to be replaced by Matthias in the office of Christ's apostle and witness. He has been denied the opportunity, not just of a lifetime, but of all time. He could have been one of the twelve men hand-picked to take the greatest message the world will ever know to the ends of the earth on behalf of the risen, conquering Messiah. Yet he had opposed God's appointed King and was removed as a result.
Perhaps we sometimes underestimate the privilege we have of being God's fellow workers in mission. What a curse it would be if we were removed from that office!