They asked him to defend himself, and the answer that he gave couldn’t have been more brilliant if he had written it out weeks in advance. Here’s what he said:
“Let me tell you a story”. He didn’t use these words, but that’s what’s implied. As Stephen begins to share you almost forget what the charges are. In fact, I don’t read where he addressed a single one! He never mentions changing the customs, or speaking against the laws of Moses, and he doesn’t say anything about the charge that Jesus will destroy the temple. Instead, he shares what they already know and believe. The story he told is one that every Israelite held dear, it is the story of their beginning as a people. I wonder if what Stephen did next was intentional, or simply Spirit led: He mentions that the people have always been opposed to God’s leadership. He reminds them that they rejected Moses twice (once when two men were fighting, and once when he was on mount Sinai). He points out that they committed spiritual adultery, serving foreign gods…even while the one true God was leading them in the desert. Of course, everyone knows this, and Stephen is talking about “them” not “us”….so up to this point, I imagine everyone is nodding their head, glancing at their watch, or only half listening…..they know this, they accept this. What’s the point? What about the charges that were brought against YOU Stephen? When are you going to get around to them?
Then, in verse 51 Stephen takes the conversation right over the cliff. In the New Living Translation it says “You stubborn people!” Suddenly, he is comparing them, and the way that they rejected Jesus to their beloved ancestors, who rejected God and every single prophet. Stephen shouts out (paraphrasing) “you aren’t any different than your ancestors that you cluck about. they received tablets dictated by God himself and they didn’t obey….you interacted with God himself…and you killed him.”
Conversation over. By now, every religious leader in the room is screaming. If they believed Stephen, they are screaming because they have committed the worst possible sin, a sin that would be unimaginable just three years earlier. If they don’t believe him, they are screaming out of anger and possibly fear of what the people might think. Either way, the moment Stephen finishes speaking, his fate is sealed. They drag him outside and stone him to death. Stephen’s very words are proven true as they kill him. Anyone who speaks the words of God is persecuted by these people.
Guess what has changed since those days? Nothing. In that same land today, Christians are persecuted. In the land where Moses grew up Christians are killed simply for being Christians. In the land Moses migrated through, it is illegal to be a Christian. And even here in the United States, where persecution is almost unheard of, Christians and Christian beliefs are shouted down by the crowd. If you want to relive what happened to Stephen, simply let the crowd know that Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God, and that their actions: (most sins can be traced to lust, greed, pride, or several other root forms)
have offended God. Not only has God said that He is offended, but that He will punish those who don’t change their ways.
Perhaps the moment will never come when you or I will be called to step into the place of honor that Stephen held. Maybe we will never be granted a glimpse of heaven open as we lay our lives down for the cause. But if such an honor were to be made available to us, I pray that we would not shirk, or fall short in our devotion.
Well said, and well done, Stephen. You just kept the bar high, and provided a powerful, motivating example.
In awe of the Master,
PR