Acts 7:51 ¶ Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Stephen gives one of
the class sermons of all time reliving the history of the Hebrews, the Jews. In
the end he convicts the Jewish leadership of murdering the Messiah they were
promised as they had murdered prophets sent to them by God through the years.
Their response to his condemnation makes them and their descendants suffer
horribly for the next two thousand years. The Jews had already made two damning
statements about themselves that would echo throughout history.
Matthew 27:25 Then answered
all the people, and said, His blood
be on us, and on our children.
John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto
them, Shall I crucify your King?
The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Fortunately for them
God is merciful and loves the Jewish people. Paul said;
Romans 11:25 For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out
of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but
as touching the election, they are
beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29 For
the gifts and calling of God are
without repentance. 30 For as ye in
times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their
unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now
not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Acts 7:54 ¶ When they heard
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God, 56
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
on the right hand of God. 57 Then they
cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one
accord, 58 And cast him out of
the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a
young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he
kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Here is the first
martyr for the Christian faith, Stephen. Saul, who we will know later as Paul,
took charge of their garments. Stoning is a brutal way to die and there have
been many gruesome descriptions of what it does to the human body. Mankind, if
he has learned nothing else, has learned very effectively different ways to
kill.
Stephen sees Christ
standing at the right hand of God. Elsewhere He is said to be seated. Perhaps
this was the Jewish leadership’s last chance at repentance before the Saviour
sat down and the next two thousand years of suffering for the Jews was to
begin. Stephen is stoned with a fury as these men refuse to accept what he has
said. He echoes a sentiment similar to Christ's from the Cross in asking for pardon for his murderers.
Not for the first time
in the Bible, as we have seen, sleep is used as a euphemism for death.
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