At the conclusion of the last chapter, we saw that Stephen’s accusers claimed “that he had spoken blasphemous words against Moses and against God”; and again, “that he ceased not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law: for we have heard him say,” they declared, “that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.”
When these charges were set forth, with a formality which invested them with ominous implications concerning the safety and even the life of the prisoner; every eye in the room was directed toward him, in order to observe the impression produced upon him – as well as to scan the personal appearance of one who had lately been so much talked about in the city. There he stood – serene, collected, and undismayed. “All that sat in the council saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” – which may mean that it pleased God to manifest His approval of His servant, by investing his countenance with a supernatural and angelic brightness, such as that with which the face of Moses had once shone when he had been speaking with the Lord.
In making his defense before the council, Stephen took a rapid and interesting survey of Jewish history, from the days of Abraham to those of Solomon – refuting the erroneous notions of the Jews concerning the excellence and the permanence of the entire Mosaic worship system. He proved to them – from the records of their own Scriptures – that Abraham and the patriarchs had been chosen by God, and had served Him long before the law was given by Moses and the Tabernacle and Temple were built. He showed that Moses himself – commissioned as he was, by God, to be “a ruler and deliverer” of the people by whom he had been previously refused, and to be the giver of the law to them – had nevertheless foretold the giving of a new Law. “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me,” he had once said; “him shall ye hear.” The law of Moses, therefore, was clearly of a temporary nature. On many occasions, it had proved insufficient to keep the people to their obedience. And both the Tabernacle and the Temple – even though they had been made by Divine command, and after a Divine pattern – were only of temporary duration, and they were of no essential value in the sight of God. Then Stephen burst forth into a strain of severe reprehension – condemning the willfulness of their forefathers in resisting the Holy Spirit, and reproving their own hereditary stubbornness of heart. He condemned their forefathers with having slain the prophets who had foretold the coming of the Messiah, and he boldly charged themselves with having betrayed and murdered the Messiah Himself! Thereby they had rebelled against the law of which they professed themselves to be such zealous supporters and believers – a law which had been delivered to them by the ministry of angels, and which the Messiah came to fulfill and perfect.
Longer than this, Stephen’s audience could not endure to hear him. They would not allow him to proceed with the application of his arguments. They broke in upon his defense with all the signs of malice, rage, and fury. “They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” But he paid no attention to their rage. He, being full of the Holy Spirit, “looked up steadfastly into heaven”; and there he saw the splendor of the Divine presence, and Jesus Himself arrayed in glory. As he saw this, he spoke: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God!” Jesus is usually represented as sitting on the right hand of God, and so the difference here is noteworthy – as if the glorified Redeemer had risen from His seat, as a token of his readiness to aid His servant. These words assert the Divinity of Christ, and it is very clear that the Jews understood them in this sense; for they heard in them a confirmation and aggravation of the “blasphemy” which they had previously accused Stephen of. They raised a tremendous outcry, and rushed upon him with one accord; and then they cast him out of the city, and stoned him to death – thereby inflicting upon him the death which the law awarded to blasphemers; but not awaiting, in their tumultuous impatience for blood, all the tedious formalities of judicial procedure. The last breath of this holy man was spent in a prayer to Jesus – first for himself, and then for his murderers. “They stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” While the stones rained their cruel blows upon his body, he prayed, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” And then he sank to the ground in death; but such was the composure with which he yielded up his soul, under circumstances that were so tumultuous and terrifying, that it was as if he had died quietly upon his bed. Hence the sacred historian says, with beautiful simplicity, “And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Lord, we repent of times when – like the Jews who listened to Stephen – we may have become angry at messages from Your faithful ministers, instead of prayerfully examining our hearts. Amen.
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