The Stoning of Stephen
When a dispute broke out among two leading ethnic groups in the church the disciples decided to allocate a few men dedicated to ministering to the physical needs of the members and to smoothing out disputes. These men were called deacons and were separated for their special work by the laying on of hands.
Stephen was the most eloquent and influential of the seven deacons. He was well versed in the Scriptures and used them like an experienced swordsman in battle. He often engaged in theological debates with Greek Jews in their synagogues. His opponents struggled to respond to his arguments, never quite able to best him in a debate.
His skill and eloquence gained him a passel of enemies and it wasn’t long before the men who had it in for him had him arrested on trumped up charges and brought before the Sanhedrin for trial. The Jewish leaders were secretly plotting to execute Stephen and then pay off the Roman authorities to gloss over the crime. They were desperate to get rid of him because his preaching was propagating the doctrine of a crucified and risen Messiah which was contradicted everything they believed in.
Since Stephen’s reputation was impeccable the members of the Sanhedrin brought in false witnesses hoping to indict him on fabricated charges in much the same way that they had indicted Jesus not long before.
When Stephen was asked to defend himself, he launched into a sermon which covered the history of the Jewish nation. Fact by fact he unpacked the sad history of a nation that had been called by God for a special purpose yet had failed to accomplish that purpose because of their pride and stubbornness.
Stephen’s sermon reached its climax when he pointed out the fact that the law which the Jews depended on for salvation had failed to save them from idolatry. He also pointed out that Jesus was the missing link that connected all aspects of Jewish history into a cohesive whole. Then he struck a nerve that elicited an immediate, enraged response. He pointed out that God does not dwell in temples made by hands. He quoted the prophet Isaiah saying “heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me? Says the Lord or what is the place of My rest? Has My had not made all these things?" (Isaiah 66:1)
It was too much. Not only had Stephen declared that Jesus, a dead Jew nailed to a Roman cross was the messiah but he had also intimated that the temple, the very pinnacle and centre of Jewish life had been deserted by God in the aftermath.
Seething the high priest, feigned horror and rent his robes. When Stephen saw this he paused his sermon. He understood what the gesture meant. They were going to kill him. In a final desperate attempt to reach his audience he cried out “You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did so do you! Which of the prophets did you fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law and the direction of angels and have not kept it” (Acts 7:51-52)
His words were the equivalent of throwing a lit match into a can of gasoline. The entire room erupted in outraged cries. Grown men gnashed their teeth at the audacious young Christian. For his part, in the midst of this fury Stephen stood serene. A man caught in the eye of the storm, unfazed by its savagery. Jesus did not forsake his faithful servant in the hour of his greatest need. As the tempest roared around him Stephen saw a vision of heaven and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. It was all the encouragement he needed. He understood two things in that moment; his life and his death would not be in vain and Jesus loved him. Stephen was not alone. In the midst of his darkest hour, Jesus was present watching over him.
The comfort and peace he gained from that revelation carried him through the agony of a public execution and gave him the strength to extend forgiveness to those who murdered him in cold blood.
Saul of Tarsus, a young, zealous Pharisee was present at Stephen’s execution. The important men of the Sanhedrin left their coats at his feet while they rolled up their sleeves to kill an innocent man. Saul approved of Stephen’s death and shortly after worked hard to destroy the church. However, Saul was to have his own encounter with Jesus. One that would set him on a road he never imagined he would travel.
Thinking about Stephen’s death might tempt us to question God’s wisdom. Why would he allow such a gifted, capable man to be destroyed in such a savage and public manner? And yet Stephen’s death was not in vain. It touched Saul in a way that nothing else could have and it galvanised the nascent church into action. Christians were forced to face a reckoning and ask themselves what they were willing to sacrifice for their faith. Stephen’s death strengthened the church and propagated its growth.
There are times when we can’t understand why God allows certain things to happen in our lives or in the world around us. We don’t understand why bad things happen. Yet we often forget that we are in the midst of a cosmic battleground. All around us the great controversy between Christ and Satan rages with a furious intensity that we see in every aspect of our lives. In the midst of that supernatural conflict with its mounting toll of human casualties we can count on two things; first God is love and he will never act contrary to His character. Second God works all things together for good to those who love him. May we cling tight to these realities in the midst of the storm that rages around us.
