The Stoning of Stephen
(Acts 7:51-8:1a)
We all know of Stephen, how he was the first martyr of the Church. We often read this passage and think about the seeming tragedy of his death. But, I want us to look at this passage in a different light. The tragedy that day wasn’t the death of Stephen but the crowd that stoned him. Stephen was not the victim that day, in fact he is not the victim at all, he wins. In death he is the victor, and though they live, they became the losers. Today, we will see that Stephen was a man who had grace to live and grace to die.
I. Stephen Before the Accusers- (Acts 6:9-7:1)
A. What we know about Stephen- Acts 6 tells of Stephen that he was one the seven men (of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom) chosen by the Apostles as the first deacons of the church. It goes on to tell us that Stephen was one who was “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit”, and that there were signs and wonders done among the people through Stephen. Stephen was a witness for Christ by sharing the Gospel and the life he lived before others. Stephen evidently went and taught and preached in some of the synagogues because certain leaders of the synagogues tried to debate with Stephen (many against one) but they were not successful, we see this in Acts 6:10, “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke”; they could not handle his wisdom or his spirit. All their minds put together were no match for one Spirit-controlled mind. So we see that Stephen was a man of God who was full of the Spirit, full of faith, and wisdom and knew scripture and was able to effectively communicate it and was a Christian man that was held in high esteem by the church and the Apostles.
B. The False Accusations- We talked how the Jewish religious leaders lost a debate to Stephen and they did what many people do when they lose a debate and a confrontation with the truth, they slander and lie on Stephen (Acts 6:11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God”). They accuse him of blasphemy by hiring false witnesses against him to say so. When telling them about Jesus, Stephen does so with great courage and does not water down the Gospel message. But they falsely accuse him of blasphemy and have to hire false witnesses because they could not dispute truth, so they determine to silence the proclaimer of truth.
C. The Council- just like Jesus we see that they have falsely accused Stephen of blasphemy and not only that they seize him (false arrest-sound familiar) and they have convened a Council (kangaroo court) (Acts 6:12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council).
And here at this council they, just like they did Jesus, bring in the false witnesses (had to be two) and they tell their lies against him. These Jews mean to kill Stephen, because if they pronounce him guilty of blasphemy they can stone him. They bring the false accusations against him and they have this mockery of a trial and after all the false statements and lies of accusing him of being an evil blasphemer they look at Stephen and as they behold his face verse 15 says, “And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel”. Facing this fake trial and false accusations and the possibility of death, we see Stephen full of the Holy Spirit with the glory of God shining on his face. God rebukes them through his servant Stephen by allowing the manifest glory of God to shine on his face.
II. Stephen Answers and Defends the Gospel (Acts 7)
Acts 7 stars out with this verse, “7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?”, they so ‘graciously’ let Stephen answer and address his accusers, to defend himself. By the time he is done defending himself, they become the ones on trial for blasphemy. In his sermon, he says, in effect, "I believe in God, but you put God in a box. I believe in Moses, but you continually break the law that he gave us from God. I believe in the Temple, but if your forefathers hadn't desecrated it with worshiping idols, it wouldn't have been destroyed by pagan, godless peoples. This now in your third Temple, and guess who doesn't believe in Herod's temple?...God, who has had to keep wiping them out." So he turns the tables on them completely and indicts and condemns them. This sermon builds until it climaxes with the confrontation in verses 51-53, "51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it". He tells them the truth about the condition of their heart and how they failed to recognize the Messiah was in their midst, performed sign and wonders and miracles and they were so spiritually blinded they did not recognize their salvation, Jesus Christ. And they killed him just as they had killed the prophets sent to them from God before Him. He again tells them that they again are resisting the Holy Spirit and refuse to believe in the word of God and the Son of God, in fact he calls them betrayers and murderers. Stephen courageously speaks the Word of God boldly and proclaims the only Lord and Savior of all, he does so knowing full well of the consequences and still he does not flinch or apologize for the message of truth.
III. From Death To Life (Acts 7:54-8:1a)
A. Rejection- So what was the result of them hearing this message of truth? Where they convicted by the Spirit? Verse 54 says that, “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth”; it seems they heard the message and fully understood what he was saying. But the reaction was one who was convicted but not repentant. The ‘cut to the heart’ shows that the saw of conviction had ripped them through the middle. They knew that everything he had said was true. The ‘gnashed on him with their teeth’ shows the great rage and frustration they felt. They could not verbalize their hatred and anger and just ground their teeth in fury. Instead of repenting and yielding to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit they ground their teeth in fury at Stephen and at God. It reminds me of the verse in Matt. 24:51- And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In there spiritual blindness they chose to reject the glorious light of salvation. They hardened their hearts time and time again to the revelation of God’s salvation found only in Christ. They had rejected the Savior Jesus and now again they rejected the Gospel of Christ. Just like Pharaoh they hardened their hearts and rejected the word of God and just like Pharaoh God now hardened their hearts and rejected them. After the death of Stephen you see that the Gospel being preached to the Samaritans and Gentiles away from the Jews.
B. Full of Anger or Full of the Spirit- As Stephen is facing this hatred and anger, the Bible says that he was ‘full of the Spirit and looked into heaven’. He faced evil just like any Christian, through the power of the Spirit and looking unto Jesus for his help and strength. We can face life challenges and problems the way Stephen did or the way the Sanhedrin did (angry and blaming God), it’s up to you. Looking at these couple of chapters that describe Stephen, it’s clear that whenever it’s talks of him it said that he was ‘full of the Spirit’; it shows that he yielded every part of his life to the control of the Spirit of God. We need to heed the example of Stephen.
C. Vision of Christ and Derision of the Mob - now what was it that really pushed them over the edge to kill Stephen. (Acts 7:55-58, 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him). The situation was getting tense and Stephen looked to the Lord, the only place to look at such times and he beheld a sight that only very few had seen, the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of the Father. The Bible says in Hebrews that after Christ had accomplished redemption, He went to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Well, what is He doing standing up here? He sat down in terms of redemption (finished) but always stands up when His children are in trouble. It shows a wonderful truth, that Jesus has an active interest in His servants, it was as if Jesus was saying, “Stephen, I’m coming to your rescue!”. The proclamation of that vision to the Sanhedrin, pushed them over the edge. To proclaim that Jesus was at the right hand of the Father shows that He was the Messiah and risen from the dead and that He was God in the flesh. Maybe they remembered what Jesus had said at His mock trial, Mk. 14:61b- Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. They saw this as blasphemy and pronounced the death sentence for Stephen. It says that they, “57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him”, this really showed the condition of their hearts, they so resisted the Gospel message that they put their hands over their ears so as not to hear Stephen. They all ran upon him as a mob and took him outside the city to be stoned.
D. Stoning and Death of Stephen- Acts 7: 59 And they stoned Stephen- In Lev. 24:14, it says that stoning to take place outside the city and 24:16, says that stoning is the punishment for blasphemy. They also had to have the testimony of two witnesses for an execution to take place. Deut. 17:7 states that “The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people”. That what was needed by Law to stone a person. In the Rabbinical tradition of Jewish law, it tells us that drop from the stoning place was twice the height of a man. A precipice of ten feet with rocks below and one of the witnesses would push the criminal off into the stoning place from behind so that he would fall face first. Then, he would be turned over on his back. If he died from the fall, that was sufficient. If not, the second witness was to take a large stone and drop it on his heart. If this caused death, that would be the end, but if not, then the accused would be stoned by all the congregation of Israel. We see from the account they laid their garments at the feet of Saul, they did this so they didn’t have anything to hinder them from throwing the stones.
Verse 59, says that as they were stoning him, he called upon God to receive his spirit. He knew to be ‘absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’, and in verse 60 we read the Stephen’s forgiving farewell. So much of the love of Jesus was in him that he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, he asked Jesus to be merciful to them. He said in effect, Father forgive them; only a Christian could love like that, because the love of Jesus is shed abroad in his heart (Rom. 5:5). Lastly, we see what a peaceful passing Stephen had, “And when he had said this, he fell asleep”, fell asleep and awoke in the arms of Jesus in those hallowed halls of Heaven. Stephen faced evil and death and won the victory because he faced it with Jesus. He didn’t return evil for evil, but he faced it with the truth, forgiveness and grace of God. He is a great example for us as Christians.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Co. 11:1 to “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”; we see the example of Stephen as he followed Jesus and he did plant the seed of salvation in one heart that day (read 8:1a), Saul. From Stephen’s uncomprising stand and death came Paul. St. Augustine said, “The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen. From Stephen came Paul, and from Paul came the world. What will come from us, what will we do for God?
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