Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke. So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s. Acts 6:8-15
Cats have this inner drive to hunt,
and then play with their food. The old saying
about cat and mouse is a clear picture of this
drive. And it’s not a pretty picture
from the mouse’s perspective.
Stepen is a poster child for the
mouse’s perspective. Jesus had warned his
disciples about the treatment they would experience at the hands of this world’s
power brokers. As this chapter opens the
church is flourishing as many are being saved.
But there was a division brewing (that always happens when the church
grows). Some of the widows were being neglected at the food pantry. So the church chose seven servants (deacons)
to oversee this. Stephen is the first
name mentioned, and, it appears, he jumped into serving Christ with his whole
heart. What happened next was
predictable, because Jesus predicted it.
He told his disciples:
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’ “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. John 15:18-27
A cat torturing a mouse before it
finally eats it is a sad commentary on religious authority mimicking worldly power
systems. The plotting of Pharisees and the
religious leaders to kill Jesus was a cat and mouse game, of which those
religious leaders would regret eternally.
Stephen was full of grace and God’s power; Pharisees, keepers of the law
of Moses ought to have been rejoicing.
They didn’t. Out of jealousy and
pride they arrested Stephen and played their cat and mouse game until they realized they were
losing the debate. Since losing was not
an option for the fat-cat power crowd, they hired false witnesses to lie about
Stephen.
Finally, they stoned him to death. Game over…or so they thought, for the time
being.
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
For other posts on Acts 6 see A Sermon to the Stubborn and for John 18 see Anger
on the Wall and Like
Father; Like Son
