Christ Is Risen! 🌞
Acts VI, 9 – Libertine
– that is, the
one that consisted of freed former Roman slaves (this is their common
name – Libertines).
The description of Stephen’s martyrdom (abridged, since the whole of chapter 7 is devoted first to his defence and expository speech, preaching, and then to his martyrdom.
Stephen thus became the first martyr for Jesus Christ specifically (as a follower of Jesus Christ for his faith in Him). The accusations of the Jews were similar to the accusations they had made against Jesus, and were also based on false testimony, and just like Jesus, Stephen overcame these accusations. In his preaching, he tells the story of the salvation of the Old Testament Church, starting with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews, to whom God gave His promises.
Since Stephen was accused of blaspheming the temple and the Law, he speaks about them – absolutely correctly and in the spirit of both the Old and New Testaments.
But this is not just a debate among scholars about the truth, but a testimony to the power of God that fills the faithful in the name of Jesus in the Holy Spirit – signs of which were Stephen’s glory (the radiance of grace, which later became known as nimbus) as he spoke, and the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself to him in His and the Father’s glory.
Stephen was sentenced most of all for this glory, because the Jews themselves had nothing like it, which finally exposed them as opposed to the truth, to God.
I would also add that Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, is mentioned as a witness to Stephen’s execution.
Stephen prays for his enemies, like Jesus, and is not afraid of death.
His name is translated as crown
and has become a common symbol of
martyrdom and victory.
The town to which the nobleman went was geographically higher than the place where his own home was, so the original uses the word ‘come down’ twice: where he asks Jesus for healing and where he returns home. In the first place, the words thus have a double meaning – a literal geographical one and a spiritual one, which is more important – the latter showing the humility and faith of the nobleman. The miracle is similar to several others performed by Jesus that are described in the Gospels.
What makes it special is that the man believed Jesus’ word about healing over a distance (the same situation was with the Roman centurion and his servant, whose faith Jesus praised), and that he clarifies when it happened to be sure that it was a miracle of Jesus. He did not witness the healing himself, but he trusts the word of the servants, who knew nothing about the story of Jesus except that the father had gone to him to ask for healing.
For us, this is a lesson that God’s action (here, a miracle) can be broader than we can personally accommodate, involve more people, and when their participation is credible, we should accept their testimony as if we were witnesses ourselves, with similar trust.
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!