"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 8:55-56

Stephen's criticism of the temple is taken to a new level. It provokes the crowd to furious outrage, precisely because Stephen’s message implied that the tragic history of biblical Israel was repeating itself and the rejection of God’s servant – the ‘Righteous One’ (v. 52) – would have the same terrible consequences for his own generation. The audience is transformed into a frenzied mob and we have the extraordinary picture of the crowd, covering their ears and screaming their demand for blood. In the midst of this frenzy and in contrast with it, we see Stephen’s calm vision of the exalted Son of Man, vindicated at the right hand of God.

For at least the next 300 years, scenes like this one would be repeated on many occasions. Hundreds of men and women faced the decision between life and death as the Christian movement expanded across the Roman Empire. The story of the church and its martyrs reminds us that ‘there were Christians who quite joyfully parted with possessions, family, friends, even life itself in order to remain faithful.’ This may seem very remote from our lives, but perhaps above all else the story of Stephen compels us to ask: what is really worth living for and dying for today?

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord God, thank you for the ways your Word and your Spirit build my faith. Help me to stand against any opposition to Jesus, no matter how great or how small.

(from Encounter with God)