Stephen's+Speech

toc =**Contextual summary**=

**Disciples encounter resistance; The Sanhedrin see Jesus as a threat**
Post-Christ persecution of the disciples began in Acts 4 when the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came to Peter and John, disturbed by the concurrent preaching of the two of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, and seized and jailed them. After questioning them unsuccessfully (they persisted that they would continue to preach), Annas the high priest, and others of his family noted that they were powerfully eloquent and well known, and allowed them to leave. The high priest and the Sadducees tried again to arrest the apostles, but they were released by an angel of the Lord, beginning to teach again at the Temple Courts. After being arrested again, the apostles answered their interrogators with "We must obey God rather than man," and though this drew the High priest and Saducees to fury, Gamaliel, a lawyer and teacher of some repute among the elders and the Sanhedrin, kept them from putting the disciples to death by convincing them that historically, any movement that was not of God's own hand always faded away. He urged the High priest and Saducees to take note as to whether or not the Way was of God or of man, by virtue of the movement's strength and endurance.

**Stephen's apologetics**
By church appointed ministry, Stephen was appointed by the apostles to supervise the daily distribution of food to the Hellenistic Jewish widows. With that somewhat menial responsibility, he formed a reputation for debating and reasoning with other Jews in the community that Jesus was the fulfillment of Judaism[i]. The Jewish opinion of Jesus at the time was varied, with some believing Jesus a good teacher, some viewing Him as a political figure, some believing Him to be a fraud. In any way, most Jews at this point considered Jesus' claims to be divine (and the belief that such claims were true) to be crippling to Judaism, so Stephens goal was strategic. He had to show them that Jesus completed Judaism, not injured it[ii]. He also prayed for the suffering and did great wonders and signs of healing. He grew so well known and popular that he once again attracted persecution from the Sanhedrin. Stephen was arrested and brought before them on the charge of blaspheming against his ancestral religion.

=**Stephen's Defense**=

**God's directions and promises for Abraham, Joseph, Moses**
Stephen begins by addressing Abraham’s journey from Ur to Haran, and from Haran to Canaan, demonstrating a somewhat deviated obedience to God’s command. Stephen's purpose in this example is to to demonstrate that Abraham did not begin a Giant of faith and a model Patriarch, but was molded into that figure over time[iii]. He shows Abraham as an example of one who is growing in faith and obedience, an image of Abraham that the Sanhedrin, Elders, Pharisees, and Saducees would have found unflattering. Stephen continues by drawing attention to the presence of God with Joseph all the time. Throughout his trials, God was with Joseph, even when he faced the wrath of his brothers, the abandonment to the traders, the humiliation of slavery, and the despair of prison, God was with Joseph and helping him become the moral figure he was known as, and furthermore, all this without the need of the rabbinical traditions, sects, or the Temple. Joseph did not need the temple to be close to God. Instead, God was with him all the time[iv]. But even as God used Moses to rescue Israel, they still rebelled. Moses came, and spoke and wrote of another Prophet to come after him, and warned that Israel should take heed. Yet in their hearts they turned back to Egypt and even as Moses was obtaining the covenantal law from the creator of the universe, they made a calf of the Gold they'd plundered from Egypt with God's victory, and worshiped it. Even in victory, Israel time after time rejected Moses, even given the divine signs and instructions that Moses was their deliverer. Interestingly enough, the elders had accused Stephen of blasphemy of the temple. And yet, Stephen only spoke against the way Israel worshiped the temple of God instead of the God of the temple. In the same way that Israel worshiped the calf in the wilderness, they were again worshiped the works of their own hands- [v]. "Our fathers had the tabernacle... Solomon built Him a house..." Stephen’s point is that the presence of the tabernacle or the temple did not keep them from rejecting God and His special messengers. He'd established relationships with their ancestors without any of the hindrances that the leaders of Stephen's day allowed to grow. The critical point to reference here is that these ancient relationship existed and grew without the rabbinical traditions later established, without even the temple. The temple wasn't needed for a relationship with God.

**The religious leaders are following in the footsteps of their forefathers, rebelling against the sovreignty of God in their hearts (Acts 7:51-53)**
But even as God used Moses to rescue Israel, they still rebelled. Moses spoke and wrote of another Prophet to come after him, and warned that Israel should take heed. Yet in their hearts they turned back to Egypt and even as Moses was obtaining the covenant law from the creator of the universe, they made a calf of the Gold they'd plundered from Egypt with God's victory, and worshiped it. Even in victory, Israel time after time rejected Moses, even given the divine signs and instructions that Moses was their deliverer. Almost 20 times in the Old Testament, God calls Israel stiff-necked. These religious leaders are being just as their fathers were. Even as Israel prided itself on the Mosaic Covenant's sign of circumcision because it provided separation from the Gentiles, Stephen contended that, “you are just like the Gentiles in your rejection of the Lord. As Israel was in its history, so you are today, you now have become the betrayers and murderers.” Israel remained proud that they alone had received the law of God and were chosen as the guardians of the law, but Stephen reminded them, “you have not kept it.” Instead, they have chosen to worship and revere objects and places, such as the temple, while defiling the real temple, the temple of the holy spirit (the body of the believer)[vi]. = = = = = = = = = = = = =**Effect of Stephen's Sermon; reception and repercussions**=

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth, referencing great anger, but not ultimately anger towards him. Their real anger is directed against the God they are rejecting. Meanwhile, Stephen saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The power of these few words is even greater than all of Stephen's speech to this point. Whereas Stephen used his time in the attention of the Sanhedrin to bring to their attention that the traditions, rabbinical laws, and objects of their worship (the Temple, the Altar) When Stephen declared that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, it was too much. The Sanhedrin react quickly, violently, and together. When Jesus, before this same body of men, declared that He would sit at the right hand of God, they had the same reaction and sealed his death as a blasphemer[vii]. **Bibliography** Gloag, Paton J. //A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles//. Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1979. MacArthur, John. //Stephen: a Profile in Courage: Study Notes, Acts : 6:8-8:1//. Panorama City, Ca: Word of Grace Communications, 1984. Rees, Paul S. //Men of Action in the Book of Acts//. Westwood, N.J.: Revell, 1966. Watson, Alan. //The trial of Stephen : the first Christian martyr//. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996. Print. Williams, David John. //Acts//. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990. Wilson, Marvin R. //Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith//. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1989.

[i] - Rees, Paul S. Men of Action in the Book of Acts. Westwood, N.J.: Revell, 1966. 36 [ii] Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1989. 74 [iii] Gloag, Paton J. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1979. 127 [iv] Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1989. 95 [v] - Rees, Paul S. Men of Action in the Book of Acts. Westwood, N.J.: Revell, 1966. 241 [vi] Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1989. 208 [vii] - cf. Matthew 26:64-66

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