Thursday Acts 7:54-60

Stephen is murdered by the mob.

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Stephen had been accused of blasphemy. They said that he spoke against Moses and the Law. They said that he claimed that the temple would be destroyed. The high priest asked him if the charges were true and he gave them a history of Israel. He highlighted the pattern of disobedience to God throughout time. He also criticized their faith in the temple as a place rather than having faith in God Himself.

He finished with a strong accusation against the Sanhedrin. He said that they were stiff-necked people who were following the pattern of persecuting the prophets sent by God. He said that they had the Law of Moses but did not really follow it. He said that they had not only rejected the Messiah from God, but had murdered Him.

Their response to his accusation was furor and gnashing of teeth. They were high enraged. But Stephen showed no fear. They were ready to kill him but he was unafraid. How could he face this situation without fear? Luke tells us. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. God revealed Himself to Stephen.

Faith is the opposite of fear. Stephen could face the circumstances without fear because of his faith in God. The people could abuse him. They could torture him and kill him. But he knew that God was in charge. God strengthened his faith when he needed it most. Stephen was given a glimpse of heaven.

So Stephen announced to the Sanhedrin that he could see Jesus in heaven next to the glory of God. This was the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a fire. From their perspective, Stephen was committing blasphemy right there in front of them. They covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voices to drown out the blasphemy. They rushed him to stop the blasphemy.

The Law of Moses called for the community to stone to death a blasphemer. Witnesses and a trial were required. Here, they were in the midst of a trial and they were all witnesses. They were so enraged at Stephen that they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death.

Even in the middle of his mob execution, Stephen is still following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. His last words were like the last words of Jesus at his execution. “Receive my spirit, and do not hold this against them.”

What can we learn from this incident? Focusing of Stephen, we see that there will be opposition to God’s plan. If we are following Christ, there will be those who will take offense and attack us. We must keep a heavenly perspective. We could lose our reputations, our jobs, our finances, our families, our health, and even our lives. But if we value the things of God more than the things of the world, then obedience to God is a net gain.

Focusing on the Sanhedrin, we see the danger of valuing tradition and culture over God. Those who get caught up in this problem don’t recognize it. The people of the Sanhedrin thought that they were protecting the honor of God and following His instructions. They so thought that they were right that they killed Stephen for telling them that they were wrong. We are all subject to this danger. We get used to a style and routine of how we follow God. We like the routine, but God is not bound by our routines. He often uses something new and different to reach more people. Our initial reaction can be to stop this new thing. But if God is really using something new and different, then we find ourselves in opposition to God. We have to stay close to God. It is all about transformation. We have to be transformed so that God’s values become our values and His priorities become our priorities. Keep up the spiritual disciplines.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with tradition. But when tradition replaces God, it becomes an idol. God had some pretty strong language about following idols.