The Feast of Stephen
Timothy Birdnow
Happy Boxing Day! The day after Christmas is known as "Boxing Day" because
hung over siblings get into fistfights people boxed up their old stuff to give to the poor after receiving new things on Christmas.
Today also marks the Feast of Stephen (mentioned in the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslaus"). Stephen is called the "protomartry" because he was the first Christian killed for his faith.
The Acts of the Apostles tells the story:
1But as the believers#6:1 Greek disciples; also in 6:2, 7.rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The
Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking
believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in
the daily distribution of food.
2So
the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, "We
apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a
food program. 3And
so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of
the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.â€
5Everyone
liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of
faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7So
God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly
increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted,
too.
Stephen Is Arrested
8Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9But
one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called,
started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria,
Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.†12This
roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So
they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.#6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
13The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth#6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene. will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.â€
15At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
Stephen Addresses the Council
1Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?â€
2This
was Stephen’s reply: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious
God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled
in Haran.#7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria. 3God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’#7:3 Gen 12:1. 4So
Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his
father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5"But
God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God
did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to
Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7‘But
I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end
they will come out and worship me here in this place.’#7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
8"God
also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when
Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth
day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of
Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the
Israelite nation.
9"These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10and
rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before
Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that
Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge
of the palace.
11"But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,#7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers. and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
17"As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
20"At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23"One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
26"The
next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He
tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are
you fighting each other?’
27"But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30"Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33"Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34I
have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard
their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am
sending you back to Egypt.’#7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
35"So
God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they
demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel
who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their
ruler and savior. 36And
by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of
Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.
37"Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’#7:37 Deut 18:15. 38Moses
was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness,
when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received
life-giving words to pass on to us.#7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
39"But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40They
told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what
has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42Then
God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of
heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon.’#7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
44"Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle#7:44 Greek the tent of witness. with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45Years
later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that
God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into
their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46"David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.#7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob. 47But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’#7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
51"You stubborn people! You are heathen#7:51 Greek uncircumcised. at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52Name
one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones
who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you
betrayed and murdered. 53You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.â€
54The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.#7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him. 55But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw
the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at
God’s right hand. 56And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!â€
57Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58and
dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took
off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.#7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.
59As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.†60He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!†And with that, he died.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:11 AM
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