Stephen's Death By far, one of the most touching stories I have ever read, is in Acts 7. This chapter tells us about the end of Stephen’s life. To me, Stephen had to be one of the greatest of the Apostles. In Acts 6, its tells us where the Apostles appointed the Seven. These Seven were assistants to the Apostles. Christianity had spread and the Apostles were so few, that they needed more to help spread the word of God. Stephen was among these seven. He and Philip (also one of the Seven) were great preachers. Stephen mainly worked among the Greek Jews. Jews foreign to Jerusalem felt superior to the Jews of the homeland, but found their match in Stephen. Unable to withstand him in argument, they hired false witnesses and brought him before the council. This was the same council that had Crucified Jesus and had just recently attempted to stop the Apostles from speaking the word of God. When Stephen spoke before the council, he spoke mainly a recital of Old Testament history, climaxing in a severe disapproval for their murder of Jesus (7:51-53). As he was speaking, his face shone as the face of an Angel (6:15). When the people heard him speaking these things, they were deeply offended and began to attack him. As this happened, “he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (7:55-56) When he said this, they cried out and carried him out of the city. Here, they began to throw stones at him. At this point, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” And with that, he fell asleep. And Saul was there, approving of his death (8:1). Very touching, isn’t it? I'll tell you why I respect Stephen so much. He died like Jesus, with no hate or resentment toward his murderers. Have you ever been hit by a rock? It hurts. But what Stephen faced would be unbearable. Stones being thrown at you, with great strength and in large numbers. Amazing how he put up with it. After the death of Jesus, this is one that we need to remember. Stephen was a great and distinguished man, who died for the Gospel. Forgiving is hard, but if we can look at Jesus and Stephen, the forgiving we have to do should seem easy. B. Nelson |
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