Acts 7:54-59 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
In Judaism, blaspheming the name of God is speaking irreverently about God, the Temple or even Moses and the law. Such an act is punishable by stoning. Then the Lord said to Moses: Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death. (Leviticus 24:13-16) Because the Sanhedrin had murder in their hearts, they brought forth liars who would claim that Stephen said blasphemous words about God and Moses. Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” (Acts 6:11) The Lord Jesus was lied about too, but the liars' accounts were not convincing, for they did not hold together as being truthful. People also lied about Paul desecrating the Temple and blaspheming God and Moses by teaching that the law and circumcision were not necessary to be right with God. Even though lying is a detestable sin in both the New Covenant and Old Covenant, worthy of hell fire, lying is prevalent in human affairs. Jeremiah equates lying with adultery, of being unfaithful in words, deceiving people for personal reasons. "For they are all adulterers— a pack of treacherous liars. My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:2-3) As Jeremiah says, liars do not know the God of integrity, his holiness and perfection. In the above focus, we see Stephen’s accusers looking for reasons to kill this apostate believer in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. As with Stephen's accusers, the elite of the Jewish community sought reasons to kill Jesus. Also Paul was lied about by people who wanted to kill him. In these situations, lying is pivotal in the accusations against Stephen, Jesus, and Paul. Lying displays the devil's, nature; he is the father of all lies. When he (the devil) lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44) Demons use lying to deceive people; Eve fell for the serpent's deceptive words. In Stephen’s case, the Sanhedrin is justifying their actions of stoning Stephen based on lies. For them, judgment must be meted out on Stephen because he is a blasphemer. They justify their actions of stoning Stephen by knowing they are following the commandment of God. Saul, as he observed this scene, must have thought the stoning was justified for the killers put their outer garments at this feet. He probably went away from that scene believing what he saw was a justifiable execution according to the law of Moses. Later we see Saul going from city to city, dragging men and women back to Jerusalem either to be killed or to be forced to recant their belief in Jesus as the Messiah. For him, Stephen’s stoning was a necessary act to squash this apostasy of Jesus being the Messiah. Probably, the Sanhedrin also believed this stoning was legitimate and necessary to quell apostasy. Earlier many of them had heard Jesus affirm the question, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus’ answer made it necessary to kill him. ”The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? ”They all condemned him as worthy of death. (Mark 14:61-64)
As with the case of executing Jesus, the Sanhedrin was killing an innocent man; their indictment against Stephen was based on lies. They were violating the cardinal commandment: You shall not murder. Jesus addresses the commandment of not killing by examining the content of a man’s heart before that dastardly act. Murder as with adultery foments in an evil heart. God always judges the heart, its intentions, its darkness. Men judge from the outside, but God judges the heart. Jesus knows that this murderous darkness in men and women's souls begins with unjustifiable anger. “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22). During Jesus’ three years of ministry, Jesus knew the leading priests and teachers of the law were against him and his teaching. He knew they were angry about him winning over the allegiance of the people to him; they were jealous of his large following. Jesus was teaching about God’s grace and mercy. To find favor with God, the priests were advocating following rigidly the law, along with their own man-made regulations. Their position of honor and prestige in the Jewish community was being threatened by Jesus’ teachings. Their anger against Jesus eventually turned to thoughts of murdering him. Before restoring a man’s shriveled hand before their eyes, Jesus addresses their negative attitude about doing good on the Sabbath: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath. ”Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:12-14) We see their anger toward Jesus transformed into murdering him. Jesus is now consider a blasphemer because He is violating a regulation given by God to Moses. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (Exodus 20:8), a day that should be absent of any activity, a day of complete rest. Stephen, who is carrying on the message of Jesus Christ in the Jewish community, is seen as a cohort of this blasphemer: Jesus Christ. Therefore, Stephen also deserves the sentence of death. People lie about him to allow the Sanhedrin to justify him being stoned. But in carrying out their sentence of death, a more intense, wicked emotion comes to the surface. They were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The devil's hatred of God manifested in them. They did not want to hear the words of righteousness, so they covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voices. The devil and his cohorts do not want to hear about God’s plan of redemption. As with Jesus, they were thinking that stopping Stephen’s voice would give them victory over the mysterious plan of God to save all people from destruction. The pit of hell was planned for them, not for people.
In Stephen’s face and words, we see the love of God for all people, even those who hated him and let the devil use them as his agents. The devil is a liar, a fountain of lies; he will never quit lying to people about God and his righteousness. Stephen is before the Sanhedrin because of lies told about him. Jesus knew where these lies originated and that his followers would carry out the purposes of the devil. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. (John 8:44) Stephen has been indicted by lies. Now as a result of those lies, Stephen will be stoned. As his face and words reveal, he is an adopted son in the household of God; he will portray his Father even in death. The Father is perfect, righteous, never ending. Stephen will die with the Father’s will on his life. As Jesus commanded, Love your neighbor as yourself. But He tells us that the Father goes well beyond just loving the neighbor; He loves those who hate him. Stephen epitomizes this love at the very end of his life: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. God does not want anyone to perish. Stephen does not want these people full of hatred to face the final punishment of God. He wants their lives to be spared. Jesus talks about this love. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:44-48) Perfection is emulating the Father’s love. Normally people write this verse out of their lives, having no intention to loving their enemies. But God has come to us in the form of Jesus Christ to restore all people to their Creator. As Christians we are to reconcile people to God, not push them away or condemn them for not being faithful and obedient to the Creator. We are to express God’s love for all people. We see this in Stephen’s last words on earth just as we see this in Jesus’ last words: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) We are to carry the message of God’s love to the whole world, first starting in our own families, then to our neighbors, to our communities, to our nation, and to the world. If we do not, we are aberrant Christians, doing our own thing and not God’s will. Paul gives Timothy, his young minister, the purpose and focus for living for Christ. I urge, then, first of all, that PETITIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION AND THANKSGIVING BE MADE FOR ALL PEOPLE--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4) We see Stephen petitioning God not to hold this sin of murder against them. We see Jesus telling his Father to forgive his killers. We know Moses and Paul told God they would sacrifice their place with him for eternity for the salvation of those who wanted to kill them. Are we better than these people when we are openly willing not to forgive our enemies? Let us keep in touch with the Spirit of God, keep in step with him, loving all humans God created the best we can with the enduring love of God, our Father. May this love rise up in each of us today to dispel Satan’s lies and advance the Good News.
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