Acts 7:60 ... "Falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them!' And having said this, he fell asleep."
Stephen was one of the seven men appointed by the apostles to oversee the work of distributing daily sustenance equally to Hellenist and Hebrew widows. As he performed this duty, he somehow ran into disputes with Jews from certain synagogues in Jerusalem. But because Stephen was filled with wisdom and the Spirit of God, these adversaries performed badly in the debates. It is evident that their goal was not to define truth and righteousness but rather to protect selfish interests. We read in Acts 6:11-12 that "they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.' And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came upon him, and brought him before the Council."
The seventh chapter of Acts is devoted to Stephen's trial before the highest court of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. It was far from a fair trial; from its beginning it is obvious the purpose of the Jews was to convict and destroy Stephen. Acts 6:13 reports that "they put forward false witnesses," just as they had previously done in the "trial" of Jesus. In the middle of his testimony (v.51) Stephen abruptly turned from his presentation to make a severe indictment of these men for obstructing the will of God and for murder, whereby they perpetuated the tradition of their ancestors. In their countenances he apparently read the malice and injustice in their hearts. His severe words to them, however, were not motivated by anger and hatred, for his dying words as they stoned him was a prayer that God would forgive them of the terrible sin they were committing. Stephen felt pity for them in their spiritual blindness and hardheartedness and spoke to them the strong words he did for their real benefit.
This Christian martyr, the first on record, serves as a worthy model for all who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. He made no compromise of the truth to save himself, but rather boldly defended it. In fact, a close analysis of his speech reveals he was more interested in revealing God's plan of human redemption than he was in his own defense. Had he been allowed to finish his discourse, he probably would have extended the gospel invitation to the Jewish leaders to accept it and be baptized into Christ. Stephen's heroism and steadfastness may have had a positive impact upon one special adversary that day, Saul of Tarsus, who later became a Christian and an apostle of Jesus.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. ... Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great," (Mat. 5:10,12). Fortunately, in the present situation, it is not likely we will suffer Stephen's fate in our stand for Christ. Nevertheless, if we truly stand loyal to Christ in a society that every day is turning further away from God and making light of His word in the Bible, we shall suffer persecution in some form. It says in II Tim. 3:12 that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Because Christ in His gospel uncovers and condemns the sin in people's lives, they will despise and ridicule His teaching. And those who become disciples of Jesus they will persecute in one way or another. The opposition of society to Jesus and His disciples has recently become more prevalent and more overt. The challenge to maintain our identity in Christ is growing stronger, and we must valiantly rise to meet it. The offense we may take is with the word of God and righteous conduct. If that is not sufficient, as it was not for Stephen, we must be "ready to suffer." But suffering for Christ is never in vain, for "great is your reward in heaven." (See Rev, 7:9-17).
