King Solomon once said,

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

King Solomon saw the beginning of many things – huge building projects, alliances with foreign powers, even multiple marriages – and he concluded that no matter how promising things might appear at the beginning, what really mattered was how it turned out in the end.

The Church in Jerusalem had a great beginning. Jesus had just left them and they had vivid memories of what he said and did. The Holy Spirit came and filled them with unbelievable power. In the first year, thousands of people became believers and joined the community, living together in love and generosity. There was some persecution from the religious establishment, but even that fired up the believers’ passion to preach about Jesus.

After a while, however, they noticed that the Church was made up of people who were still sinners and hadn’t mastered the art of living like Jesus yet. The Lord dealt swiftly with Ananias and Sapphira who gave in to Satan and lied to the community. But when disputes and divisions began, the Lord let the believers deal with their problems and grow in the process of solving them. They started, faltered, and then learned how to do things right.

Dispute Between the Hellenists and Hebraics

Hellenistic Jews had mostly been dispersed into what is now southern Turkey and North Africa under the Greek and Roman Empires. They spoke Greek and adopted some aspects of Greek culture, but they maintained their Jewish identity and faith.

Hebraic Jews had managed to remain in the ancient land of Israel and keep their Jewish traditions.  They spoke Aramaic, the language of the Galileans.

As the Christian community grew in Jerusalem the logistics of caring for everyone became more complicated. The Hellenistic Jews complained that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The Twelve apostles called a community meeting and asked for the names of seven men who could oversee the practical side of their life together. They were the first diaconate, or deacons.

It seems the community chose the best of the best to be their deacons. The qualifications included being full of the Holy Spirit, faith, and wisdom. After they were commissioned and got to work, the apostles were able to devote themselves more fully to the ministry of the Word.

“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased reapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7

Stephen is Arrested

Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew who followed Jesus and was blessed with grace, power and the ability to perform signs and wonders among the people. In Jerusalem there was a synagogue of other Hellenistic Jews who had moved to Jerusalem after being freed from servitude to Roman masters in North Africa, Syria, and Asia. They formed the Synagogue of the Freedmen, when they heard their fellow Hellenistic Jew Stephen preaching Christ, they disputed with him because he wasn’t observing pure Judaism anymore.

They lost their debates with Stephen because he answered them with wisdom from the Holy Spirit, so they became furious and decided to do away with him by bringing false testimony against him before the Sanhedrin. They accused him of blasphemy against Moses and God, and they dredged up a false charge that had been made against Jesus –  that he would destroy the temple and the customs of Moses – and claimed that Stephen wanted to do the same thing.

Stephen was untroubled by the charges against him.

“All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Acts 6:15

What Stephen saw in the faces of his angry accusers was an opportunity to give the message of Jesus to a very influential audience.

Stephen Preaches

When the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?” (Acts 7:1) Stephen didn’t defend himself. Instead he answered with a sermon that revealed why the Synagogue of the Freedmen had arrested him in the first place: He preached about Jesus. It wasn’t the way the sermon began, but the way it ended that got Stephen into trouble.

He began by recounting Israel’s history from the time of Abraham through the twelve sons of Jacob and their slavery in Egypt. He reminded them of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, their meeting with God at Mount Sinai, and their entrance into the Promised Land. The men of the Sanhedrin couldn’t fault Stephen’s knowledge of Israel’s history, even when he talked about Israel’s disastrous fall into idolatry and how deeply that offended God.

But Stephen’s hearers believed idolatry was a thing of the past for the Jews. The Sanhedrin was made up of men who carefully kept the Law and prided themselves on avoiding the mistakes of their ancestors.

So they were startled and angered at what Stephen said next.

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet they did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him – you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” Acts 7:51-53

“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.’” Acts 7:54-56

The Death of Stephen

The Jewish leaders were beside themselves with rage. They covered their ears and shouted to drown Stephen out; then they rushed at him and dragged him outside the city to stone him. As the stones bruised and broke his body, “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.” Acts 7:59-60

Stephen died filled with the Holy Spirit and with the hope of glory in his heart. He saw heaven, with Jesus waiting to receive him. He wasn’t afraid or bitter, and he had only  mercy in his heart for his enemies as he prayed that God would forgive them.

It’s hard to understand why anyone wanted to kill Stephen; he was such a good man. But he was a truth-teller and his hearers hated what he said. The participants in his death were so methodical in carrying out their plan that they carefully laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul before they joined the stoning. “And Saul approved of their killing him.” (Acts 8:1)

Losing Stephen must have felt like such a loss to the Church! He was a young man and he brought such gifts and grace to their community. His death was completely unjust and discouraging, but it didn’t hinder the progress of the Gospel. As the theologian Tertullian observed a hundred years later, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

God let Stephen see heaven and gave him the grace to forgive his murderers. In the end, the Lord turned Stephen’s death into a lasting blessing.