Stephen’s Defense Part 5

Father Forgive Them

Stephen’s Defense

In our last four posts from the book of Acts we examined Stephen’s defense before the Sanhedrin:

Stephen’s Defesce Part 1 – What Might Happen to You if You Behave Like Jesus. In this post we looked at what can happen in our lives when we behave like Jesus and we also saw how Stephen’s spirit was probably the most important part of his success in communicating the love of Christ.

In Stephen’s Defense Part 2 – The Way StephenShared Jesus)and how similar it is the the way Jesus shared Jesus) Acts 7:1-16

We also saw how Stephen’s way of sharing Jesus was similar to the way Jesus shared about himself with the two on the road to Emmaus. We also explored how Stephen presented Joseph of the Old Testament as a prophetic picture of Jesus to his listeners.

Stephen’s Defense Part 3–Finding Jesus in Moses: Acts 7:17-43. In Part 3 we saw how Stephen shared with the Sanhedrin another beautiful prophetic picture of Jesus’ life in Moses.

Stephen’s Defense Part 4–”What kind of house will you build for me?” says the Lord: Acts 7:44-50. In part 4 Stephen points out to the Sanhedrin how they have made their religion about the temple. Their love for God and their love for people was overwhelmed by their love for the temple and the rituals that had to do with the temple.

Today, in Part 5, we’ll see how Stephen follows the way of Jesus in the most ultimate manner he can.

Acts 7:51-60

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:51-60

Stephen’s Spirit (in contrast to that of the Sanhedrin)

I think it’s important to begin by pointing out that even though Stephen had some hard things to say to the Sanhedrin, it was the members of the Sanhedrin who were enraged here. As we saw in Part 1 of this series, although he was engaging in a difficult conversation, in contrast to his accusers “his face was like the face of an angel.” So we don’t want to make the mistake that can happen sometimes with written communication. Maybe you’ve sent an email before, where the recipient mistook your tone for something different than what it was. To avoid that mistake here, the writer begins by making sure we understand Stephen was filled with the Spirit of Christ when he presented these hard things to the Sanhedrin: “his face was like the face of an angel.” And we’ll see how the writer confirms that Stephen is filled with the love of Jesus during his discourse, by the last words he uttered as he died. (Acts 6:15, Acts 7:60)

Following Jesus, All the Way to the End

The story of Stephen reminds me of another story I learned about recently. It’s a story about a Jesus follower named Ignatius. He was a friend of Polycarp’s who was a disciple of the Apostle John and it may be that Ignatius himself was also a disciple of John. Ignatius wrote a letter to the Jesus followers in Rome and at the time he wrote this epistle, Ignatius was being held prisoner in Rome. In his letter he describes himself as “being bound to ten leopards” which meant Ignatius was guarded by ten Roman soldiers. And he was sentenced to death for following Jesus.

I have to admit, when I first began reading Ignatius’s letter I was alarmed. He seemed to want to be executed for his devotion to Jesus. That was disturbing in a way. But as I read further, and as I learned about other writings from Ignatius, I realized that what he really wanted was to follow the way of Jesus as closely as possible. He was saying, dear brothers, please don’t attempt to rescue me. Allow me to die the way my Savior died. “All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing,” he wrote. “Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God.” And he also had as a motivation, the protection of his brothers. Because anyone attempting to rescue Ignatius put themselves in jeopardy of being consumed by those ten leopards. In the end I realized my error. Like Peter, after Jesus shared about the suffering the Son of Man must endure, I was “not setting my mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

Stephen’s Conclusion

So after sharing about Joseph, and how Joseph was a prophetic picture of Jesus, and how Joseph’s brothers rejected him when they sold him into slavery even as the leaders in that room had rejected Jesus. And after sharing about Moses, and how Moses was also a prophetic picture of Jesus and how Moses was rejected even as Stephen’s accusers had rejected Jesus. And after sharing about how the Sanhedrin’s emphasis on the temple had eclipsed God’s emphasis on loving Him and loving people and receiving His Son as the Messiah, the Christ, Stephen, with, I believe, a sad and broken heart for his hearers, closes with words that are more direct.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,” Stephen said. “You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

And the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged. And they ground their teeth.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, full of the Spirit of Christ, gazed into heaven and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

But his accusers started yelling loudly and they rushed upon Stephen. And they took him out of the city and they stoned him.

And as they were stoning him, Stephen called out to the Lord, he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Even as Jesus said from the cross, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)

And falling to his knees Stephen cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Even as Jesus cried out from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Following Jesus More Closely

Stephen’s example, and Ignatius’s example, and Jesus’ example makes me want to follow Jesus more closely. The way they lived, and the way they died reminds me of these words of Jesus, spoken immediately after Jesus rebuked Peter when he told Peter he was not setting his “mind on the things of God, but on the things of man:”

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

Mark 8:34-37

“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Jesus said. And Ignatius said, “All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing.”

Stephen lived for Christ. He gave his life to Jesus completely. He lived in an attitude of complete surrender and he died the same way.

I want to be like Stephen, in both life and in death.

Will you join me in this prayer?

“Father, be merciful to me and be merciful to the dear person reading this right now because we’re sinners. We’re like little children down here trying to follow Your Son Jesus the best we can. Send Your Holy Spirit to help us walk the way Jesus walked, to live the way Jesus lived, and even to die the way Jesus died. Help us to please You in everything we do. Help us to surrender to You completely the way Jesus, and Ignatius, and Stephen did.

“The greatest mercy, and grace, and love You can show us is to conform us into the likeness of Christ to the greatest degree possible.

“Father we pray You will do that for us.

“In Jesus’ name we ask this of You.

“Amen.”

_________

Kurt Cameron Bennett is a writer best known as the author of the book Love Like Jesus. After attending church and studying the Bible for most of his adult life, he was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven-year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote Love Like Jesus for himself as much as for others.

Before becoming an author he served as a firefighter in Medford, Oregon. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, just a few miles from his son Gabe, daughter (-in-law) Charise, and grandson Andrew. He has another son Nate and daughter (-in-law) Anastasia who live in Sammamish, Washington.

You can find his blog here.

You might also like: Love Like Jesus–Forgiveness and Paralysis (An excerpt from the book Love Like Jesus)

Article By Kurt Bennett, and Photo by Felix Mittermeier Published With Permission