The Arrest and the Stoning of Stephen

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The Arrest and the Stoning of Stephen

A Review of the Expansion of Christianity: ...The High Priest asked Stephen “Is this true?” Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me...the Most High does not live in a house built by human hands. As the prophet says...”

The Samaritan Research Group

The Appointment & The Charges

ACTS 6- And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch. 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us (Acts 6 (KJV).

COMMENTARY

Acts 7, gives a Biblical account of the historical appearance of Yahweh [God], to Patriarch Abram and the covenant and the promise made to him and his descendants if he were to leave his home country- Mesopotamia, to Haran, where he was directed to go and sojourn. In Stephen’s speech, he drew his peoples’ attention to the crux of the covenant made between God and Abraham which was the ceremony of circumcision by himself not forgetting all male descendants, a week after they have been born. So Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac.

In fulfilment of this covenant, Jacob, known otherwise as Israel, as Stephen’s historical speech sough to established, also circumcised his twelve sons, which included Joseph- “The Dreamer”, as his elders brothers called him, due to his dreams which sat uncomfortably, with his family. Stephen led evidence to remind his people of Joseph- sold to slavery by his jealous brothers to an Egyptian merchant, and his rise and fall in the house of King Portipher, the eventual rise to governorship and how his whole family came to fulfil his dream in Egypt.

Having set out this crucial historical fact characterized by grief, famine and prosperity of ex-convict Joseph and his family, Stephen touched on tribulations of the Israelites in the hands of the Egyptian taskmasters, namely, the ethnic and socio-cultural animosities, leading to the introduction of a decree that sought to kill every male-born baby of their ancestors. In the midst of these uncertainties, baby Moses, was brought to world and miraculously, had to be raised by the princess of Egypt, in the house the Pharaoh. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to find out how his fellow-Israelites were being ill-treated and manhandled. He resolved to share with them their sorrows rather than filling his egos, joyfully, in the palace.

But Moses’ “honest intervention or rescue” as Stephen’s narration points out, was summarily, rejected by the guilty beneficiary himself, inquiring with disapproval from Moses that “who made you lord and judge over us- do you want to kill me as you did to the Egyptian”? On hearing this troubling revelation with its consequential punishment from the order of the realm; Moses had no option but to flee to his uncle Jethro in Median, where following his “face-to-face” encounter with God while on the grazing field with his uncle’s flock, had his commission to return to Egypt to liberate his suffering people from slavery. The Book of Exodus- meaning, “departure”, gives account on how God led the Israelites out of a life of hardship and slavery in Egypt and also how God made a covenant with them and gave them the Law to order their lives. Exodus 5 v 1-3 talks about Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh as:

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. It was against this backdrop that Stephen remembered his generation in the following quotations from Acts 7 v 44-51:

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: 49 “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50 Has not my hand made all these things?’

51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Reflections: Blasphemous or Truth?

Stephen’s account infuriated many of his people, including those at the helm of affairs- history, traditions, law and culture. So charges, attached capital punishment were preferred against him- here, stoning by death. These are set out in Acts 7: 54When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

In the words of Jack Zavada, a career writer and contributor for About.com, two strange things happened as a result of the death of Stephen. First, Saul began a vicious personal persecution of the Way, as the early Christian church was called. Second, Jesus struck down Saul on the Damascus Road, converting him into the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the church. Notwithstanding these, many Christians repeatedly questioned: for what crime this person was condemned to die? His accusers say for blasphemy for they have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. It is also puzzled whether Stephen was condemned by any formal sentence of the sanhedrin, or hurried in a mob manner by the people; who could hardly withstood the truth.

According to The Adam Clarke Commentary (studylight.org/com/acc/view), the defense of Stephen against the charges produced by his accusers must be considered as being indirect; as they had a show of truth for the ground of their accusations, it would have been improper at once to have roundly denied the charge. Namely- Stephen, the first Christian martyr, penetrated into a detail of the Hebrew’s history, showing that, from the beginning, God had in view the dispensation which was now opening, and that his designs were uniformly opposed by their impious forefathers. That, notwithstanding all this, God carried on his work:

“How far St. Stephen would have proceeded, or to what issue he would have brought his discourse, we can only conjecture, as the fury of his persecutors did not permit him to come to a conclusion. But this they saw most clearly, that, from his statement, they could expect no mercy at the hand of God, if they persisted in their opposition to Jesus of Nazareth, and that their temple and political existence must fall a sacrifice to their persevering obstinacy. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and they were determined rather to vent their insupportable feelings by hostile and murderous acts, than in penitential sorrow and supplication for mercy.” In the words of Adam Clarke, Stephen is generally called the proto-martyr, i.e. the person who, at the evident risk and ultimate loss of his life, bears testimony to Truth. Clarke comments that this honour, however, may be fairly contested and the palm at least divided between him and John the Baptist. Thus the martyrdom of Stephen, and the spirit in which he suffered, have been an honour to the cause for which he cheerfully gave up his life, for eighteen hundred years. This is because while Christianity endures, the martyrdom of Stephen will be the model, as it has been, for all martyrs, and a cause of triumph to the Church of God. Clarke has this to say:

“I cannot close these observations without making one remark on his prayer for his murderers. Though this shows most forcibly the amiable, forgiving spirit of the martyr, yet we must not forget that this, and all the excellent qualities with which the mind of this blessed man was endued, proceeded from that Holy Ghost of whose influences his mind was full. The prayer therefore shows most powerfully the matchless benevolence of God. Even these most unprincipled, most impious, and most brutal of all murderers, were not out of the reach of His mercy! His Spirit influenced the heart of this martyr to pray for his destroyers; and could such prayers fail? No: Saul of Tarsus, in all probability was the first fruits of them. St. Augustine has properly remarked, Si Stephanus non orasset, ecclesia Paulum non haberet.”

The context here is: If Stephen had not prayed, the Church of Christ could not have numbered among her saints the apostle of the Gentiles. “Let this example teach us at once the spirit that becomes a disciple of Christ, the efficacy of prayer, and the unbounded philanthropy of God.” Stephen’s final words were said to be similar to that of Jesus’ on the cross. He is also said to be the only one to say Jesus was standing, instead of sitting, at his Father’s right hand. Today, people are still being persecuted for various reasons. Stephen believed in something and stood by it. Are we well-prepared to stand to defend what is honest and noble? It is said that all seven appointed deacons, including Stephen, had Greek names, showing that the members of the early church considered it a universal institution, not just another sect of Judaism. What are the worries or tribulations of your community, society, country or nation?

In the early Christian church, a few years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the believers in Jerusalem put all their resources together. However, the Greek Christians complained that their widows were being ignored in the daily distribution of food. Seven deacons were appointed by the group to oversee the sharing of food and other everyday matters. Stephen, a man “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,” was among them. He met his death in the process. Under Roman law, Stephen’s death was illegal. The Sanhedrin had no power to exact death penalty, but the stoning appeared to be the result of mob action. There is no mention in Acts of anyone being punished for the death of Stephen- mob actions are signs of leadership failures: frustrations and suppression of truth- we ignore these at our peril. The ancient Jewish court system that heard St. Stephen’s case was called the Sanhedrin.

The Summary Sermon

The Great Sanhedrin, like a Supreme Court, was the supreme religious body in the Land of Israel during the time of the Holy Temple. According to Shira Schoenberg, the Sanhedrin judged accused lawbreakers, but could not initiate arrests. It required a minimum of two witnesses to convict a suspect. There were no attorneys. Instead, the accusing witness stated the offense in the presence of the accused and the accused could call witnesses on his own behalf. The court questioned the accused, the accusers and the defense witnesses. In about 30 C.E., the Great Sanhedrin lost its authority to inflict capital punishment. After the Temple was destroyed, so was the Great Sanhedrin. A Sanhedrin in Yavneh took over many of its functions, under the authority of Rabban Gamliel. The rabbis in the Sanhedrin served as judges and attracted students who came to learn their oral traditions and scriptural interpretations. The members of the Sanhedrin were made up of Pharisees and the Sadducees.

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