"And Stephen," (the Deacon,) "full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." His success among the people stirred up enemies against him.

Every considerable synagogue among the Jews, had an academy or school belonging to it, where young persons were instructed by the Rabbis: and it would seem that Stephen visited different synagogues, and tried to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. "Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians (Jews from parts of Africa), and of them of Cilicia and of (other parts of) Asia, disputing with Stephen," and trying to contradict him; but as Stephen spake as the Holy Spirit guided him, "they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." When these Rabbis found that they could bring no proofs against the truth of what Stephen taught, "they suborned (or bribed) men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God"—an accusation as false as the similar one brought against our blessed Lord Himself. By this false charge, the people and the elders and the scribes were stirred up against Stephen, and they "came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council." Stephen now stood before the Sanhedrim, and the Rabbis "set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us." Stephen had, no doubt, taught that the ceremonial part of the law, given to keep the people in mind of the promised Messiah, need no longer be observed, since the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Probably, too, he had warned the Jews, that the temple, and even Jerusalem itself, would shortly be destroyed, because the inhabitants refused to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah. We have seen before, how easy it is to give to true and good words a false and bad meaning, if people are wickedly bent upon doing so. The Lord God Almighty now seems to have given a remarkable sign, that this man now accused of blasphemy, a sin directly against God Himself, was, on the contrary, one of His favoured servants, and under His peculiar care and protection: for we read that, "all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." To compare in this way the face of a man to that of an angel, was a Jewish way of saying, that there was something more than commonly pleasing and majestic in the countenance of such a man; and most likely the Lord now gave to Stephen's face, some particularly bright and holy look, so as to fill all who beheld it with surprise. The false witnesses, having made their accusation, "Then said the high priest, Are these things so?" Instead of answering as to the accusations of blasphemy, Stephen endeavoured to show his hearers how mistaken they were in their ideas of the Messiah; and how differently they would act, if they would consider all that had been told to Abraham and the rest of their forefathers, by God Himself. To this end, Stephen reminded them of how God had called Abraham out of his own land to be the father of the Children of Israel, giving him many precious promises, and establishing with him and his seed the Covenant of Circumcision in token of their being His peculiar people. Then Stephen spake of Isaac and of Jacob, and of the twelve patriarchs; and of how Joseph had been sold into Egypt, and was in time followed by his Father and Brothers and their descendants; who remained in Egypt four hundred years, according to what the Lord had told Abraham. Then Stephen spake of the cruel treatment endured by the Children of Israel; and how, in His own appointed time, God had wonderfully preserved the infant Moses to be the deliverer of His chosen people. He reminded them of the unwillingness of the Hebrews to listen to Moses, although appointed by God for this very purpose; and then he said, "This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years."

All these things were well known to the Jews, who held Moses in great reverence: and Stephen now reminds them, that it was this very Moses himself who prophesied concerning the expected Messiah, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear." Then proceeding with his history, Stephen shortly noticed the giving of the Law; the idolatry and other sins of the Children of Israel, which caused them to wander for forty years in the wilderness, and caused the Almighty even then to warn them of a future punishment for forsaking Him, "I will carry you away beyond Babylon." Stephen then spake of "the tabernacle of witness," set up in the wilderness by the command of God, as a sign or token of the Covenant made between Him and His people. This tabernacle, he reminded them, had been brought by their fathers under the leading of Joshua, (for the word Jesus here used means Joshua,) into that land which had hitherto been "the possession of the Gentiles"; and that, about four hundred years after, David, "who found favour before God," "desired to find," or build, a more suitable tabernacle for the God of Jacob. "But Solomon built Him an house."

Having thus mentioned the temple, Stephen took occasion to remind them, that though it had pleased the Lord to manifest His glory in the temple, and promise in a certain way to be present there, yet "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet (Isaiah), Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?" Stephen spake with proper respect of the temple, whilst he tried to show the Jews that they now thought too much of the temple, which was only a building set up in honour of the Lord God Almighty; and too little of Him, in Whose honour and for Whose worship it had been set up.

It seems probable that when Stephen spake of the temple, the Council interrupted him, and showed their determination not to listen to his teaching: for he now changed his tone entirely, and severely reproached them, saying, "Ye stiffnecked (or obstinate) and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One (the Messiah); of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers." Stephen also charged them with not having kept the Law which was given to them by God Himself, through the disposition or ministry of angels; in that they had not received Jesus, Who was the object of that law. This plain speaking made the members of the Council, and all who were present, quite furious against Stephen. "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth." Their rage had no effect on Stephen: supported by the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration he had spoken, he had no fear of death: all his hope and trust were in heaven. Stephen was destined to be the first martyr; and now to strengthen his faith, and the faith of those who were still to remain and do their work on earth, it pleased the Lord to show to Stephen a glorious vision, as a proof that their crucified Master was really, as He had said, at the right hand of God in Heaven; and that having done everything exactly as He had predicted, He would most assuredly also fulfil the gracious promise, to "be with them alway even unto the end." Stephen, as we read, "being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." These words, so full of comfort and encouragement to his fellow labourers, raised the fury of the unbelieving Jews to the highest pitch: "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears," that they might hear no more of what they considered blasphemy. Nor was this all; without waiting for a trial, they at once "ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him." "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Like his blessed Master, he prayed for them that did the wrong—setting us an example that we should forgive injuries, and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us. When Stephen "had said this, he fell asleep." The death of a faithful follower of Christ is but a sleep, from which he will awaken in the presence of the Lord. Thus died the first martyr; "and devout men," that is, true believers, "carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him"; as well they might, when they thought of their own loss.

In reading this history, let us remember that this same Jesus, Whom Stephen saw at the right hand of God, still liveth there, to make intercession for us.

When Stephen was stoned, "the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul."

Those persons, upon whose witness or testimony any man was executed, were, by the law, required to cast the first stone; thus, as it were, taking upon themselves the guilt of murder, if they had become false witness. The witnesses who had accused Stephen of blasphemy, prepared to do their part by taking off their long upper robes, so as to have freer use of their arms: the garments thus taken off, were placed under the charge of some one who had also been active in getting the victim condemned.

Saul was a young man, neither poor nor ignorant: he was a Jew, born at Tarsus, a city in Cilicia; and under the care of Gamaliel, (who had advised that the Apostles should be let alone,) he had been strictly brought up as a Pharisee, and was filled with an intense hatred of all who believed in Jesus. He "was consenting unto the death of Stephen," anxious for it. Nor was he satisfied with one victim: for he took an active part in "the great persecution of the church," which arose in Jerusalem at this time. The violent behaviour of the Jews, scattered abroad throughout the regions of JudÆa and Samaria, "all the disciples except the Apostles." How it happened, that the Apostles were allowed to remain in peace at Jerusalem, we do not know; but it was needful that they should for the present remain there, to direct and govern the affairs of the Church, and bring more believers into it; and therefore the Lord protected them in Jerusalem, that the Gospel might first be fully preached to the Jews, as had been appointed.

Mean time, by driving so many disciples out of Jerusalem, the Jewish rulers did the very thing they wished to prevent: for wherever these disciples went, they did not cease to speak of the Messiah; thus spreading the knowledge of the Gospel over the country, and bringing many believers into the Church.

Saul mean time was active against the truth: hunting out believers in their own houses, that they might be punished: "he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."