Apostle (Latter Day Saints) he chose and ordained (John 15:16) to be his closest disciples during his ministry on earth, and whom he sent forth to represent him after his ascension into heaven. The calling of an apostle is to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world, particularly of his divinity and of his bodily resurrection from the dead (; ). Twelve men with this high calling constitute an administrative council in the work of the ministry. When a vacancy occurred with the death of Judas Iscariot, Matthias was divinely appointed to that special office as a
Judas Iscariot Judas used the money to buy a field, and "[fell] headlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." The field became known as "Akeldama", which means "the Field of Blood" in Aramaic, because it was covered in Judas's blood, and it was used to bury strangers. In this account, Judas' death is apparently by accident and he shows no signs of remorse. The early Church Father Papias of Hierapolis ( 60–130 AD) recorded in his "Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord", which was probably written during the first decade of the second century AD, that