(Suggested Reading: Chapter 6:8-15; Chapter 7)
The beautiful Christ-like character of Stephen now comes before us. Nearly twenty centuries have rolled by, the generations have come and gone, but this man, unknown to the world, is yet well known to God and to the saints. He being dead yet speaks. The man who serves the world is soon forgotten. Read Hebrews 11 and see how God never forgets those who serve Him—whose names are written in the book of life.
Stephen was one of seven men of God chosen by the people “whom they set before the Apostles, and having prayed, they laid their hands on them” —6:6. He is further singled out by being mentioned first among the seven, and called “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” This faith soon finds a practical outlet— “and Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” It is for doing these good deeds that Stephen is brought before the Council, just as it was for doing a good deed on the lame man that Peter and John were brought before the Council. But there is a difference. The Sanhedrin itself had arrested the Apostles; here the opposition arises at lower levels of society—in the synagogues. Thus all Jewish society unites to show its hatred of the Name of Christ. It is not Stephen they hate but Christ shining out through Stephen. When the Lord was on earth He said to the Jews— “many good works have I showed you from My Father; for which of those works do ye stone Me?” John 10:3232Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? (John 10:32). The same Jews are about to stone Stephen for working the works of God. Furthermore they clearly demonstrate that they are of their father the devil for the Lord said “he is a liar and the father of it” —John 8:4444Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44). For they hire men to commit perjury, bringing false accusations against Stephen when they find “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake.” The Spirit by which he spake was the Holy Spirit.
The Accusations Against Stephen
Two sets of false accusations are levelled against Stephen. The first accusations are designed to stir up the people so he can be seized and brought to the Council. The second accusations are the formal charges laid before the Council.
The first accusations speak for themselves— “we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and God.” Note the order here—Moses first, then God. These are rabble rousing words, not supported by facts. But the accusations serve their purpose— “they stirred up the people, and the elders and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the Council.” The men who do this work are hired to commit perjury. They seem to be distinct from the men who level the accusations before the Council.
The accusations before the Council form the basis of Stephen’s unjust trial. The Holy Spirit describes them thus— “for we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazarean shall destroy this place and change the customs which Moses taught us.” What a past master of deceit Satan is. The first accusations are specifically designed to foment unrest amongst the people, and the elders and the scribes. The second accusations are aimed at those who have a vested interest in “this holy place” and are already trembling at the way Christianity is threatening it. Since the High Priest is the president of the Sanhedrin Stephen’s trial opens with the High Priest’s words— “are these things then so?” He is inviting Stephen to plead guilty or defend himself.
Stephen’s Defense
The attention of the Council is fixed on Stephen, whose face is as the face of an angel—the outward expression of Who is within, for he is filled with the Holy Spirit. Unlike the false witnesses who put Moses before God, Stephen starts with God—the God of glory. He asks them to listen to him at the start of his address but at the end they stop their ears so they cannot hear him. Then he prays to the Lord who does hear him. His prayer “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” is answered later when God saves one of his murderers—Saul of Tarsus.
Stephen’s opening thrust is that any blessing they had came from God, not from or through them or their fathers. It was the God of glory who appeared to their father Abraham. And when, and where? When he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charan. In other words, he was an idolater. God had to call him out of that. As to the land in which they now dwell God gave him no inheritance in it. Not only that but his seed was under bondage to the Egyptians. It took the strong right arm of the Lord to deliver them from this—they could not do it. Then the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, as they themselves had delivered Christ to the Gentiles. Even Pilate knew that it was for envy the Jews had delivered Jesus to him—see Mat. 27:18. Thus Stephen disposes of the charge that he spake blasphemous words against the law. This is their history he is reciting. They cannot deny it. And this part of it all took place before the law.
Were they any better under law then? Not if their treatment of Moses, the law giver, was any indication. “He supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not” —v. 55. “This Moses whom they refused, saying who made you a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush” —v. 35. Well, after God delivered them out of Egypt, brought them through the Red Sea and into the desert, did they listen to Moses? Not a bit— “to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt” —v. 39. They worshipped a golden calf, then took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan—v. 43. Thus, it was not Stephen who spoke blasphemous words against Moses, but their fathers. Indeed, the whole thrust of what Stephen is saying is lost if we do not see that he is accusing them of treating Christ as their fathers treated Joseph and Moses. Their fathers had sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver—Gen. 37:2828Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. (Genesis 37:28); they had sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Christ was willing to lead them out, but the Scriptures we have just quoted concerning their father’s rejection of Moses apply equally to their rejection of Christ. Christ is now glorified and willing to come back to them, but they will not have Him whom they sold.
Only one more charge remains unanswered now—that Stephen spoke blasphemous words against “this holy place” and that “this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place. So Stephen recites the origin of the Temple. This, rather than the teachings of Abraham and Moses, is the real trust of the nation. Stephen connects the Temple with the Tabernacle. The reason for this is that the house of God is one house in Scripture, regardless of the passage of time or the forms it may take, for it is God’s dwelling place. It starts with the Tabernacle in the desert. Then in the land “Solomon built Him an house.” Regardless of the destruction of that Temple and later reconstructions, the Temple of Stephen’s day is still what it was in the beginning. So, if Stephen says that “this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place” had not He done so before, when they magnified the building but defiled it with their sins, forgetting who dwelt in their midst? How conclusive, then, is his final thrust, destroying the last accusation “but the Most High dwells not in (places) made with hands, as says the prophet, the heaven (is) My throne and the earth the footstool of My feet; what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord, or where is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?”
Stephen has met all the accusations levied against him. So he turns from the defense to the attack if indeed we can call his vigorous, Spirit-spoken words defense at all. He has already reminded them that God had given the covenant of circumcision to Abraham. Now he points out that only the form of things is important to them for they are uncircumcised in heart and ears and are resisting the Holy Spirit like their fathers before them. They are no different from their fathers whose sad history he has just recounted. If their fathers persecuted and killed the prophets they had betrayed and murdered the Just One of whom Moses said, “a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me Him shall ye hear.” Finally, they had received the law as ordained by the ministry of angels and had not kept it.
Stephen Sees a Glorified Christ
Rage marks the Council blind rage. It is hatred against God that causes them to gnash their teeth, as those in hell will do later. Stephen has more than answered the High Priest’s opening question “are these things then so?” In contrast to them, Stephen, “full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus, standing on the right hand of God.”
The Council steadfastly look on Stephen and see his face as it had been the face of an angel. Would they know why? It is that Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit, looks up steadfastly into heaven, and sees the glory of God and Jesus. Stephen had begun with “the God of glory”; he ends with “the glory of God.” But Jesus is that the “brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person” Heb. 1:33Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3). Once before God had opened the heavens at the Lord’s baptism in the river Jordan where the Father had said “Thou art My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” That opening of the heavens was in the days of the Lord’s flesh. But just as the heavens were opened on that Man in humiliation even so are they opened on that Man in glory. Now the question arises will the Jews who rejected Jesus in His humiliation add sin to sin by rejecting that Man whom God the Father has glorified?
This question is not posed idly. Weight is given to it by Jesus standing. People would grasp the meaning of this long ago more easily than we do now, because in those days a man sat down at leisure and stood to work. Another instance where Scripture assumes that we know this is found in the tabernacle in the wilderness. There were no seats in the tabernacle. Why? Because the work of the priests was never done, the blood of bulls and goats not being able to purge sins. So because Jesus is still standing the implication is clear. Even now He will come back to the nation from the glory if they will have Him. This was Peter’s promise to them in 3:20 “and He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached to you.” When they stoned Stephen Jesus sat down figuratively of course. How do we know He sat down that is that He was through with Israel now? Because Scripture says so. Read Rev. 3:2121To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21) and you will see that He is seated today on His Father’s throne not His own for He is not ruling yet. The important point is that He is seated now.
Stephen’s Martyrdom
Christ can be seen in Stephen. If it had been otherwise, he would not have been hated. Listen to the Lord’s own words “but His citizens hated Him, and sent a message after Him saying we will not have this Man to reign over us” Luke 19:1414But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. (Luke 19:14). The message they sent after Him that is after He had ascended to the glory, was delivered by the stoning of Stephen. It was when Stephen spoke of Him at the right hand of God that is, the place of power, rule, and authority, that they delivered the message “we will not have This Man to reign over us.” Truly they would acknowledge no king but Caesar.
Stephen’s death has striking parallels with the Lord’s in some respects. Jesus was crucified outside the city; Stephen was stoned outside it. The Lord had delivered His spirit to His Father; Stephen asks the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. The Lord said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” at the cross; Stephen says “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” And so “the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed” —22:20. It is recorded that devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. While godly sorrow is in order when a loved one is taken, it is wrong to lament like that at the funeral of a believer today. But that is because of the greater light we have from the epistles of the man referred to here as Saul, who consented to Stephen’s death. And that in turn is because Stephen prayed for him before he fell asleep in Jesus.
Stephen As the Bridge
Between Judaism and Christianity
The death of Stephen took place in the presence of Saul of Tarsus. On the road to Damascus Saul saw the Man in the glory and his ministry began; when Stephen saw the Man in the glory his ministry ended. But Saul’s time is not yet. Before he can come into the picture, as it were, Peter must turn the other key the Lord gave him. He let the Jews into the kingdom of the heavens at Pentecost—next he must let the Gentiles in at the meeting with Cornelius. The kingdom of the heavens must not be confused with the Church—which will be Paul’s ministry at a later date.
Stephen comes in between the two great Apostles, as a bridge or transition point. Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. But since the Jews are guilty of a double rejection of Christ, the Holy Spirit will now go to the Gentiles. Nor does He wait even for Peter to turn his second key. In the very next chapter Philip preaches to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch. And that chapter begins with the persecutions of Saul who is soon to be converted and become more prominent than Peter.
Stephen is also a bridge between two centers. Judaism was a worldly religion and had an earthly center—the Temple at Jerusalem. Christianity is heavenly and has a heavenly center—the glory of God and Jesus, whom Stephen saw in the opened heavens. Actually, the Acts is the story of the journey between two earthly centers—Jerusalem and Rome—with the new heavenly center in between largely given up at the end. The Book of Acts commences at Jerusalem which was God’s earthly center at the time. It ends at Rome, which was to become the devil’s earthly center—a masterpiece of counterfeiting.
But it is well to see that the heavens were opened so that Stephen could see the new center—Christ in heavenly glory. This is the great truth that Satan has opposed from the beginning—that the believer has no center in this world at all—be it Jerusalem, Rome, or any other place. We are heavenly men by birth and must not settle down here. May we like Stephen realize our heavenly calling, our heavenly citizenship. Gazing on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face we will then be transformed according to the same image from glory to glory. And one day we shall reach the glory and see His face.