Chosen to Bear Fruit: Saint Matthias The Apostle (John 15:1-16)

February 24, 2026, Saint Matthias the Apostle, Red-Letter Holy Day, Season of Lent

John 15:1–16, Psalm 15, Philippians 3:12–21, Acts 1:15–26

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you on this Feast of Saint Matthias the Apostle.

Saint Matthias is one of the least-known apostles in the New Testament. Peter fills the opening chapters of Acts. Paul dominates much of the rest of the book and leaves us letter after letter. John gives us a Gospel, three letters, and Revelation. Even Thomas, James, Matthew, and several of the others are associated with familiar moments in the Gospel story. Matthias appears by name only in Acts 1, when he is chosen to take the place of Judas among the Twelve. After that, Scripture tells us nothing more about his ministry. There are later traditions about where he preached and how he died, but they conflict with one another, so we should not pretend to know what Scripture does not tell us.

Yet the Church gives Saint Matthias a feast, and the Gospel appointed for this day helps us understand why. Our primary text is John 15:1–16, where Jesus speaks to his disciples on the night before his Crucifixion. Judas has already gone out into the darkness to betray him. Peter will soon deny him, and the others will scatter. Jesus knows exactly what is coming, yet he is preparing these same men for the mission they will carry after his Resurrection. That setting matters because this passage is not first of all a lesson in how impressive Christians can become. It is a lesson in where the life of the Church comes from when human beings prove weak, fearful, and sometimes false.

Jesus begins in verse 1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1, ESV) Before Jesus tells the disciples what they are to do, he tells them where their life comes from. He is the true vine. The apostles are not the vine. Peter is not the vine, John is not the vine, and Matthias will not be the vine. The Church does not finally live by the brilliance, charisma, courage, or reputation of her ministers. Christ is the source of life, and the Father tends the vine.

That is especially important on the feast of Matthias because Matthias enters the apostolic company after the catastrophic failure of Judas. Judas had been one of the Twelve. He had heard the teaching of Jesus, witnessed his works, and been sent out with the others. His apostolic office was real. Yet Scripture also tells us that Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray him. Judas’s failure was not small, nor was it merely a private moral lapse. His betrayal wounded the apostolic company itself. But it did not destroy the Church, because the life of the Church had never come from Judas. Christ remained the true vine.

Our reading from Acts shows the same truth from another angle. After the Ascension, Peter stands among the gathered disciples and turns to Scripture. He quotes the Psalms and concludes, “Let another take his office.” (Acts 1:20, ESV) Peter does not say that because one apostle has failed, the whole apostolic ministry must have been a mistake. He does not conclude that ordered ministry itself is now suspect. Instead, guided by Scripture, the Church recognizes that Judas’s place must be filled. Judas has failed, but Christ has not abandoned his Church.

Our Collect for this feast states the matter plainly. We ask God, “who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve,” to grant that the Church, “being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors.” That is a sober prayer because it acknowledges that false leaders can exist within the Church and can do real harm. But it is also a hopeful prayer because it assumes that Christ remains Lord of his Church and that he is able to preserve, guide, and govern her through faithful servants.

Jesus continues in verses 2 and 3 by speaking about fruit and pruning. He says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2, ESV) Then he tells the disciples, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3, ESV) This is not a sentimental image. There is life in the vine, but there is also judgment, pruning, cleansing, and fruitfulness. The Father tends the vine so that the branches will bear fruit.

Then, in verse 4, Jesus gives the command that governs the whole passage: “Abide in me, and I in you.” (John 15:4, ESV)To abide is to remain, to continue, to stay in Christ. Jesus immediately explains why this is necessary: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4, ESV) Verse 5 makes the point even more directly: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV)

That last sentence ought to govern every Christian ministry and every Christian life. Jesus does not say that apart from him we can do a little less. He says that apart from him we can do nothing. Of course, we can still be active. Churches can hold meetings, organize programs, maintain buildings, balance budgets, prepare sermons, teach classes, rehearse music, and fill calendars. Human beings are capable of a great deal of activity. But Jesus is not talking about activity. He is talking about fruit, and lasting spiritual fruit does not come from energy, organization, personality, ambition, or talent. It comes from abiding in Christ.

This is where Matthias begins to come into clearer focus. When Peter describes the man who must take Judas’s place, he says it must be one of those who had accompanied the disciples throughout the ministry of Jesus, “beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us.” Then Peter gives the purpose: “one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” (Acts 1:22, ESV) Matthias had apparently been there all along. We did not know his name, but he had been following Christ. Long before there was an office waiting for him, and long before anyone knew Judas’s place would need to be filled, Matthias had been doing the ordinary work of remaining with the Lord and with his people. His hidden faithfulness prepared him for a very public calling, to stand among the Twelve as a witness that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead.

There is a very practical word here for us because most Christian faithfulness is hidden. Most prayers are not recorded. Most acts of mercy are not announced. Most temptations resisted are known only to God. Most of the times we keep our word, care for someone who needs us, support the Church, forgive an offense, give quietly, encourage another Christian, or remain faithful when obedience is costly will never become part of anyone’s biography. Matthias reminds us that obscurity is not insignificance. God sees faithfulness that history never notices.

We live in a culture that often equates importance with visibility. If something is seen, shared, measured, commented upon, or remembered, we assume that it matters. If no one notices, we are tempted to think it did not count for much. But Jesus gives us another measure. The question is not whether history remembers us. The question is whether we abide in Christ and bear the fruit he gives us to bear.

Jesus continues in verses 7 and 8: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:7–8, ESV) Notice where the glory goes. The Father is glorified by the fruit. The fruit is not given so that the branch can become impressive. It is given so that God may be glorified.

That protects us from one of the subtler dangers of Christian service. We may begin with a sincere desire to serve Christ and gradually become more interested in whether anyone notices that we are serving him. Ministry can become entangled with reputation, and an act of service can quietly become a way of being admired. Jesus gives us a better purpose. If the Father is glorified, then hidden fruit is not wasted fruit.

Then in verse 9 Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9, ESV) Once again, the order matters. Jesus does not tell the disciples to obey so that perhaps he will eventually love them. He begins with what he has already given: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” Then comes the command to abide in that love.

Our Epistle from Philippians gives us the same Gospel order. Paul says, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12, ESV) Paul presses on because Christ has already made him his own. He does not press on in order to persuade Christ to claim him. Grace comes first, and perseverance follows.

That is especially important for us during Lent. We are in a season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, repentance, self-examination, and attention to God’s Word. Those disciplines are real, and they require effort. But Lent becomes distorted if we begin to imagine that the effort creates the relationship. We do not fast so that Christ might become merciful. We do not pray so that God might finally decide to receive us. We do not repent in order to manufacture grace. Christ has made us his own, and therefore we press on.

The same order appears in the image of the vine. The branch does not bear fruit so that it can earn attachment to the vine. It bears fruit because it already receives life from the vine. Christian obedience is the fruit of grace, not the cause of grace. Jesus makes that clear again in verse 10 when he says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” (John 15:10, ESV) Grace does not make obedience unnecessary. Grace gives obedience its proper place.

Then Jesus says in verse 11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV) That is worth noticing because Christians sometimes speak as though obedience and joy were opposites. Jesus does not. He connects abiding, obedience, and joy. The branch does not become freer by separating itself from the vine, and the creature does not flourish by separating itself from the Creator. Joy is found in the life Christ gives.

In verses 12 through 15, Jesus shows us what this fruitfulness looks like in the life of the Church. He says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12, ESV) Then he explains the shape of that love: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, ESV) Jesus speaks these words on the night before the Cross. The love he commands is not vague affection. It is self-giving love patterned after his own sacrifice.

That matters when we think about the Collect’s prayer for “faithful and true pastors.” The Church does not merely need pastors who hold the right office. She needs men whose lives and ministries are being shaped by the love and truth of Christ. A pastor may be gifted and still be harsh. A teacher may be knowledgeable and still be proud. A church may be active and still fail to love. Jesus refuses to separate truth from love, and he refuses to separate love from sacrifice.

Psalm 15 gives us another picture of that faithfulness. The Psalm asks, “O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” and answers, “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.” (Psalm 15:1–2, ESV) That last phrase is especially searching because faithfulness begins before God, in the heart. It is possible to say the right things publicly while becoming false privately. Judas is the terrible example of that truth.

One clear application of this feast, then, is that we should pray for the Church’s leaders. Pray for your bishop, your priests, your deacons, and those who teach the faith and exercise responsibility in the life of the Church. Do not pray only that they will be successful, energetic, persuasive, or well liked. Pray that they will be faithful and true. Pray that they will abide in Christ, speak truth in their hearts, guard the Gospel, love the flock, and remain faithful when faithfulness is costly.

Those of us who are ordained need those prayers. But the application cannot stop with clergy, because Psalm 15 does not allow the congregation to examine its leaders while remaining unexamined itself. The same questions come to every Christian. Do we speak truth in our hearts? Do we keep our word when it costs us something? Do we refuse slander? Are we the same Christian in private that we present ourselves to be in public? The Feast of Saint Matthias reminds the whole Church that Christ desires faithfulness from all who belong to him.

Then we come to verse 16, where the Gospel and the story of Matthias meet directly. Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” (John 15:16, ESV)This is the theological center of the feast.

Acts 1 tells us that two men met the qualifications Peter had described: Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias. The Church does not ask which man has the better personality, the stronger following, or the more impressive résumé. Instead, they pray, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen.” (Acts 1:24, ESV) Their prayer assumes that the final choice belongs to God.

Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Acts 1 shows the Church acting out of that conviction. They cast lots, and the lot falls to Matthias. Scripture does not present lot-casting as the Church’s ordinary pattern for selecting ministers after Pentecost, but the theological principle remains. Ministry is received, not achieved, because Christ governs his Church.

And Jesus does not stop with choosing. He says, “I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” (John 15:16, ESV) The purpose of the calling is not status. It is fruit. That is where Matthias becomes especially useful to us, because we know that he was chosen and numbered with the Twelve, yet we know almost nothing about the fruit of his later ministry. History grows quiet, but Jesus never promised that faithful fruit would always be visible to history. He promised that those who abide in him would bear fruit that remains.

There are probably Christians whose names none of us know who prayed faithfully for the people who later taught the people who taught us. There are pastors forgotten by history whose preaching shaped families for generations. There are parents whose quiet obedience changed the course of descendants they never lived to see. There are parishioners who served, gave, prayed, taught children, cared for the sick, supported missionaries, repaired buildings, welcomed strangers, and kept the faith in places where no historian ever looked. Much of the Kingdom of God grows that way.

That means there is a word here for the Christian who feels ordinary. You may never be widely known, lead anything large, or see the full result of your obedience. That is not failure. The call is to abide in Christ, bear the fruit he gives you to bear, and trust him with what becomes of it.

There is also one final comfort in the story of Matthias. His story begins with failure. Judas has betrayed Christ, the company of the Twelve is wounded, and sin has done real damage. Yet Judas does not get the final word. Christ does. The Lord who chose the Twelve remains Lord of his Church. The vacancy is filled, the apostolic witness continues, Pentecost comes, and the Gospel goes out into the world as Christ continues to build his Church.

That does not minimize the damage done by false leaders. Our Collect teaches us to pray for deliverance from them precisely because such damage is real. But our confidence is not finally in the faithfulness of every minister. It is in the faithfulness of Christ. He is the true vine and the great Shepherd, the one who calls and appoints, gives life to the branches, and preserves his Gospel even when his servants fail.

So on this feast of an apostle whose later ministry is almost completely hidden from us, Jesus gives us exactly the word we need. Abide in Christ. Let his words abide in you. Receive his love and keep his commandments. Pray for faithful and true pastors, and seek by grace to be faithful and true in the vocation God has given you. Do not confuse obscurity with insignificance, and do not measure fruitfulness by whether the world notices.

Matthias almost disappears from the biblical record after Acts 1, but Christ knew him, chose him, and appointed him to bear fruit. The same Christ has made us his own. Because he has made us his own, we press on, we abide in him, and by his grace we bear the fruit he gives us to bear.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.