Day 231: Acts 6:8–15

Some from Cilicia and Asia came forward and disputed with Stephen. But they were unable to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he spoke (vv. 9–10).

No messenger could run quickly enough to satisfy Saul’s curiosity about events in Jerusalem. I suspect he kept abreast of the growing menace facing his fellow Pharisees. Finally the sightings of Jesus ceased, but His followers circulated a preposterous account of His ascending into the heavens. The Pharisees really didn’t care how He left. They were just glad He was gone. “If only we’d come up with that body,” they must have fretted. You can be sure students and teachers debated every conceivable theory.

A few no doubt wondered, “What if Jesus really did come back from the dead?” After all, they remembered that unfortunate Lazarus incident. How convenient it would have been for the Pharisees if the stir had simply died down. Instead, as the months passed, the number of Jesus’ followers grew, as did their boldness.

Saul was probably disgusted over the way the Pharisees had mishandled the problem. If he wanted it done right, he’d obviously have to do it himself. So Saul packed his things and headed for Jerusalem, salivating for the chance to be the hero. Saul arrived in Jerusalem just in time to hear an infuriating speech from a man named Stephen.

Acts 6:8 says Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and power who “was performing great wonders and signs among the people” (hcsb). When Saul arrived, his fellow Jews were trying to debate the follower of Christ, but Stephen’s passionate love for Jesus was tying a group of empty, legalistic Pharisees in knots.

Many of us remember our own agony of emptiness. And right here on earth’s miserable sod, Stephen was full—not just because he’d accepted Jesus as Savior, but because he had surrendered his whole life to Christ’s will and purpose. The more Stephen poured out his life for Christ, the more Christ poured His life into Stephen.

Stephen was full of faith, full of God’s grace and power. Only a person full of the Holy Spirit can possess the kind of power Stephen displayed and yet remain full of God’s grace. You see, a person full of the Holy Spirit cannot be full of self. Pride never accompanies power in the fully yielded life.

Stephen showed biblical meekness—the power of God in a loving package—but his witness infuriated Saul’s fellow Jews. So they cooked up some false charges against Stephen, much as they had against Jesus.

They brought Stephen before the Sanhedrin and confronted him with false witnesses. When those sitting in the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen, they got a shock. “His face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).

I wonder if they thought of Moses. Scripture says when he came down from Mount Sinai, “his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord” (Exod. 34:29 hcsb). Or did they recognize the marks of wisdom as indicated by King Solomon: “A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed”? (Eccles. 8:1 hcsb).

Whatever the Jewish leaders thought, I doubt they expected what they got next. Stephen stood accused. His life literally hung in the balance. But instead of placating his accusers or defending himself, Stephen preached one of the most classic sermons in history. He rehearsed his and their Jewish history, showing at every point how God had prepared for and sent His Son. Read Acts 7:1–53, and you can join Saul in the crowd as he listened to Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin.

Obviously Stephen was not playing the part of a politician. He referred to those in his audience as “stiff-necked” with “uncircumcised hearts and ears” (v. 51). Finally they covered their ears, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him.

Before we leave Stephen, don’t miss a final detail that may have planted the seed of the gospel even in a zealous young Pharisee’s heart. While they were stoning him, Stephen cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). As we walk through the ministry of Paul the apostle, remember the forgiveness voiced by a dying believer. In a human sense, that one sentence may have borne more fruit than any from that day to this. Stephen’s words of forgiveness were to have a permanent impact on Saul. The seed might have taken a while to germinate, but the rabbi from Tarsus would never escape the witness of Stephen.

When I think of my life, I think of all the Christians whose witness has shaped me. When I get to heaven, I know I want first to see my Savior, but when I’ve spent a few centuries at His feet, I wonder who else I’ll want to see. I’d like to take a basin and a towel to wash the feet of those who have meant so much to me here. I think Stephen has a high place on the “wash list” of Saul of Tarsus.