“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. NLT
Acts 7:51-60
I like the New Living Translation for the forcefulness it gives to this section and so I have used it for this Gem. Notice firstly the tone of what Stephen tells the Council. He is no longer retelling Israel’s history. He is no longer talking in terms of “our fathers”. Now he disassociates himself with the leaders, past and present. His statements are accusatory and forceful. They are stacked up one upon another.
- You stubborn people
- You are heathen at heart
- Deaf to truth
- Forever resisting the Holy Spirit
- Doing continually what your ancestors did
- Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute. Stephen’s implication is – you can’t.
- They killed those who predicted the Righteous One’s coming – you betrayed and murdered Him (i.e. the Righteous One)
- You deliberately disobeyed God’s law – despite receiving it from angels.
I don’t think I have to add much more but I will spell out some things so it is clearer to you. Notice how Stephen’s accusations have become harsher. Oh yes, the forefathers were guilty but these leaders were more so. Literally, Stephen accuses these leaders of being uncircumcised of heart and ears. That is a unique accusation. There is no other combination like it in the whole Bible. Your hearts are unresponsive and your ears are deaf to the truth of God. A dangerous position to be in – even more so for leaders. Oh, your forefathers may have persecuted all the prophets without exception as they predicted the coming of Messiah, but you . . You have betrayed and murdered the Messiah, God’s Righteous One. The betrayal is connected with the money paid to Judas to betray Him; a betrayal which was laid at the feet of the religious leaders. The murder is related to their obstinate response in the face of Pilate’s offer to let Jesus go free. They were the ones driving this matter for their own ends. You accuse me (Stephen) of blaspheming Moses and speaking against the Law when you deliberately disobey God’s Law, despite receiving it from angels. Stephen is no longer giving a defence against their accusations but making pointed comments about their own culpability.
Stephen has finished his defence and has come to his conclusion. Now he is directing his comments toward his accusers. Notice now what happens. The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation. Their detachment in turning this into a charge against Stephen in court has become personal. No longer is this about Stephen speaking against Moses or God. Their greatest wrath comes when Stephen speaks against them. Notice the body language connected with their verbal response. It is telling. They are cut to the quick, enraged, furious, gnashing their teeth and shouting while holding their ears to hear no more. They rush at Stephen en masse. Talk about a mob reaction. The NLT uses the term – they shook their fists at him in rage. Have you ever discussed or debated something with someone when suddenly things move beyond an intellectual conversation for you to be faced with angry body language? You know you have moved beyond objective words and encountered personal anger. Stephen has touched a button which manifested the true feelings of these leaders. They cannot hide it anymore.
At this point Stephen refers back to the manifestation of the Glory of God. Remember at the end of chapter 6, we were told Stephen’s face shone like an angel. For Jewish people, especially those familiar with the Law, their minds would go straight to Moses face shining on Mt Sinai after his encounter with the Glory. We are told then that his face began to shine. It is the beginning of the process of shining. How long then did the shining last? I suspect it lasted as long as he was speaking. Surely these illustrious leaders would remember Moses experience and wonder if they were not witnessing a manifestation of God’s glory. But seemingly they suspect nothing of the kind. So now Luke tells us that “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand.” That is a powerful statement. Gazing into heaven is a metaphor for a heavenly revelation or encounter. He sees the Glory of God, and he refers to the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a term for Messiah found in Ezekiel, who also had an encounter with the glory of God. Then furthermore, Stephen told them what he was seeing, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!” What a slap in the face that was. Adding insult to injury.
So they put their hands over their ears and shouted. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city. All of those actions are in the aorist tense. They are short, sharp actions strung together one after another and of limited duration. The covering the ears, the angry manifestations and all that followed were brief moments of action one after another. But then they began to stone him. The stoning was something different. This verb in an imperfect tense, signifying an ongoing action. They started stoning him and didn’t stop until he was dead. The stoning continued through whatever Stephen said until his death. Normally the role of the witnesses was for them to testify that this man deserved stoning according to the Law. They ought to have stated clearly why he deserved stoning and then one witness, normally the one whose testimony was strongest and irrefutable would begin the stoning. Not in Stephen’s case. This was a frenzied mob reaction which began in unison and continued with all of them hurling stones until Stephen’s broken body no longer moved, no more talking, no sign of him breathing. He was dead. Stephen didn’t fall to his knees in humility or holiness. He was beaten to his knees by the sheer force of the blows from the rocks. But don’t miss one important aspect in all of this. In all of this false accusation, Stephen’s response was Christ-like. Did you notice how similar Jesus and Stephen’s comments were when faced with the falsity of their accusers? Both of Stephen’s cries mirror what Jesus cried from the cross. He is more concerned with them having their falsity not held against them (Added firmly to their account without possibility of the charge being lessened). Serious indeed – Stephen is more concerned for them than himself. It’s a pity they didn’t pick up on that fact.
In humility let the word implanted in your heart grow up to save your soul.
Anon
Jesus is looking for people who love not the world. It is to those people he will give the world.
Anon
Glory was what you were originally designed to live in.
Anon
If you try to be good at EVERYTHING, you will never be great at ANYTHING! This approach only breeds mediocrity!
Rick Godwin
Like Stephen, let even your dying be a great moment. Do NOTHING out of mediocrity.
Ian Vail