Study in theActs of theApostles

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The FirstMartyr

Chapter 6v8-8v1Presentation 16

IntroductionVictor Frankl writes, “Man can endure almost any suffering if he can see a purpose or meaning in it.” Think of the mother who undergoes an operation to make her bone marrow available to her sick child.

But why did Stephen suffer? The early chapters of Acts describe a variety of ways in which God delivered his servants from prison. But there was no deliverance for Stephen. He was stoned to death.

Why did God not deliver him? This question would have exercised the church in Stephen’s day, in the same way that Christians today ask, ‘Oh God, why do you not deliver me from my sore trials?’ Can this passage help us to construct some kind of answer?

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Background To The ArrestWe need to begin by exploring the background to the animosity that Stephen generated among his peers. He was not an Israelite, but a Greek speaking Jew recently converted to Christianity. He was a man of tremendous gift and conviction, who was eager to encourage others to share in his new found faith. Stephen had a Spirit-given ability to make the Christian faith come alive and walk straight out of the scriptures in a way that confronted men with the awesome presence of the living God.

Till now many regarded Christianity as an odd little Jewish sect. But Stephen’s preaching made it quite clear that Christianity was the fulfilment of the O.T. Scriptures and that the Judaism of his day had beensuperseded.

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Background To The ArrestStep[hen’s teaching imperilled the very existence of the Jewish religion. Clearly, Stephen did not promote the religious tolerance of our day that says, ‘It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere’. Nor did he teach, “All religions are equally valuable and useful”. Rather he taught that, “All of the Jewish ceremonial which we have clung to all these years is no more than a signpost pointing to Jesus”. No one, not even Saul of Tarsus could contradict his argument from the scriptures or refute the logic of his presentation.

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Background To The ArrestOnce a traveller arrives at his destination, we would think it strange if he said, “I prefer the signpost to the destination”. Or, picture a man dying of thirst while clinging to a sign pointing to an “Oasis”. But this is precisely what the Jews were doing. And they were infuriated when Stephen made it clear that the signpost of Judaism had done its work.

Human pride finds it hard to say, ‘My arguments have been undermined, my position has been shown to be untenable’. Instead, men look for ways to silence the argument, or, as in this case, the one who has made it. And so Stephen is hauled off to court.

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Stephen’s DefenceThe charges brought against Stephen are a mixture of lies and a misrepresentation of his arguments. Stephen’s defence in 7v2ff involves a careful unpacking of Israel’s history. We cannot examine it in detail here but in more general terms we can learn from his defence.

First of all he makes it clear that far from undermining the O.T. scriptures he has been keen to point to Jesus as their fulfilment. The Jesus he proclaimed and the forgiveness of sins which Jesus offers have their roots in the covenant promises God made to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.

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Stephen’s DefenceFar from speaking against Moses and what he had written, Stephen is doing precisely what Jesus himself did. With regard to the O.T. Jesus said, ‘Moses wrote about me’ John 5.46. The difficulty was that the Jews had misunderstood their own scriptures.

As a people they had persistently failed to understand God’s dealings with them and to respond to the grace God offered to them. A charge that has a contemporary ring to it.

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Stephen’s DefenceIt was Stephen’s opponents, and not he, who had twisted God’s word. For example they taught that God could only properly be worshipped in Palestine! God could only be accessed in the holy land! And so Stephen reminds them that God met with Abraham in present day Iraq, and appeared to Moses in the Midianite desert where he told him that the land on which he stood was “holy ground” Ex. 3v5.

If any place is holy it is because that’s were God’s presence is!

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Stephen’s DefenceThe Jews placed undue value on the temple in Jerusalem. “Destroy it and you destroy mans ability to worship God,” was their argument. ‘Now hold on’, says Stephen, ‘didn’t we used to worship God in a tent in the desert?’ The place of worship is not particularly important to God. People so easily become obsessed with buildings. They can idolise brick and mortar. “Close this building down” they say, “and we will not worship anywhere else”.

The building is not the church, it is the of God who are the church! It is not geographical location but spiritual connectivity that is the all important factor. Cf Jn. 4v24

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Stephen’s DefenceThe Jews had also placed undue importance upon the rite of circumcision. The Jewish dictum was, “You’re O.K. as long as your circumcised.” A contemporary parallel is found in church today, “You’re O.K. if you are baptised and participate in the Lord’s supper”.

Stephen reminds those, who had idolised their religious rites and ceremonials, that it is a faith relationship with God that is all important. Significantly, Abraham was able to luxuriate in that relationship and in God’s promises of salvation long before circumcision was even instituted.

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Stephen’s DefenceStephen is telling the Theology Department at Jerusalem University not only that they are wrong, but, like their forefathers, they had closed their ears to what God was saying to them. They were too proud to allow God’s Word to have its way in their lives. Stephen’s language would not have endeared him to his audience. These men understood the implications of what was said.

They could not contain their rage and decided to silence this disturbing voice v58. When the gospel summons men and women to repentance and faith, stressing the necessity of a new beginning, a new birth, a new nature, there are always those who want to silence that voice!

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Stephen’s ImpactWas Stephen foolish to speak as he did? Would he not have been wiser to modify his language and smooth-talk his hearers? No, for he recognised that diluting the truth emasculates the gospel and robs it of its power.

The story is told of the visiting preacher, who was visited by an elder in the vestry prior to the service. The elder said, “Don’t say anything that would upset the Methodists, there are some in the congregation and Baptists… Anglicans.. Roman Catholics. I don’t see any Mormons though, say what you like about them”. It is a foolish preacher who courts man’s approval rather than God’s.

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Stephen’s ImpactFaithfulness to God is more important than man’s seal of approval? Stephen may have alienated the Sanhedrin but what an impact he made in heaven. In 7v56 we read that ‘he saw Jesus standing’. The risen Jesus is normally described in scripture as ‘seated at the right hand of the majesty on high’.

Only here do we read of the ascended lord standing - a posture that conveys an intense personal interest and concern. Are you passing through deep waters because of the stand you have taken for Jesus. Then allow this picture of Jesus on his feet, to encourage, comfort and sustain you in those dark times.

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Stephen’s ImpactBut Stephen was stoned. His behaviour was the death of him. Some think, “Surely he contributed to the collapse rather than the expansion of God’s work”. The religious authorities certainly believed that his death would be one more nail on the coffin of Christianity but they were wrong! Stephen’s death contributed more significantly to the advance of God’s kingdom than anyone could have grasped. The wave of persecution that began with this martyrdom scattered the sparks of the Jerusalem church all over the Roman Empire.

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Stephen’s ImpactAnd as the fire of the Jerusalem church was scattered, little fires grew and spread at a remarkable rate. More specifically in Ch. 8v1 we learn that that Saul was present, watching and approving of Stephen’s death. Saul would have heard Stephen’s arguments in the synagogue and his remarkable defence before the Sanhedrin. He witnessed his extraordinary prayer for his persecutors as he was stoned.

All this made an indelible impression upon Saul. God was using all of this to unsettle Saul and prepare him for a day of transformation when he would become one of the greatest advocates of Christianity that the world has ever known.

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Stephen’s ImpactThis amazing principle is captured by Tertullian, an early church father, who wrote, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. Stephen’s death was not wasted! God transformed it in an instrument to take the good news to the uttermost parts of the world.

Many fine Christian people don’t understand why God doesn’t intervene to deliver them from sore situations. They cannot see how their suffering can be of use to God. Let Stephen’s story encourage you to recognise that God is often most at work where he seems least apparent.

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ConclusionThe first martyr in the church was not an apostle but a layman, not an ordained minister but deacon. We often think that the most significant work for God is done by those who are most publicly prominent or who hold the highest office. The story of Stephen challenges that view.

It may be unlikely that we will be called upon to die a martyr’s death but the suffering we experience for Jesus’ sake can be used mysteriously by God to push forward the boundaries of his kingdom.

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