New Year Challenge Day 7

Acts 7

The deacon, Stephen, has been arrested and accused of blasphemy – and the accusations are that he has been preaching the Gospel! When challenged by the high priest, his defence speech is a perfect example of how the Holy Spirit will inspire any of us to defend our faith – just as Jesus had promised.

In his speech, Stephen invokes images of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and the pharaohs in Egypt, the ministry of Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon – all men who foreshadowed Jesus in the Old Testament, and men whose ministry was rejected by ancestors of old. Eventually Stephen accuses them of even rejecting God’s Son, the Righteous One, without even recognising him as their Messiah!

This is enough for the high priest and the council. Stephen’s revelation of Heaven, seeing the Son of Man at God’s right hand is the reward that he is given. His fate has been settled, and the witnesses and men standing nearby are keen to carry out his execution. As they stone him, Stephen prays for the men – just as his Saviour had done only months before. His final breath is not taken in anger or resentment, but in prayer – oh that we should be so faithful at our time!

One last note – the men wouldn’t want to get blood on their cloaks, so they laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul – yes, that Saul! We should really include chapter 8 verse 1 in our reading today – “And Saul agreed completely with killing him”.

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