Ep 398 – Acts 7:54-8:3

Stephen finally finished his little dissertation on Israelite history and, when he had said his last word, the Jewish religious leaders lost it. They had heard more than enough. And when Stephen claimed to be seeing a vision of the resurrected Christ sitting at the right hand of God in heaven, that’s when the high priest and the members of the Sanhedrin ganged up on Stephen, dragging him out of town, where they preceded to stone him to death. While they had listened for a long time, they had not heard a word Stephen had said. They had not been persuaded by his rhetoric or convicted by his words of accusation. As far as they were concerned, Stephen was the guilty party. He was a blasphemer and a traitor to the Jewish faith. They thoroughly believed that his execution was appropriate considering what they believed to be his crimes. But Luke’s portrayal of this entire event creates a dramatic juxtaposition between the faith of Stephen and that of the religious leaders. They had faith, but it was misplaced. Their faith was not so much in God, but in the religious trappings that they believed were representative of God. They worshiped the law, the Temple, and their own pedigree as children of Abraham. But they had long ago stopped believing that God was out to do something great among them. Most of the members of the Sanhedrin, who were Sadducees, didn’t even believe in a literal Messiah. They also rejected the whole idea of resurrection. So, their faith was firmly planted in what they could see. But they were too blind to see what God was doing in their midst.