Sidebar

[boxcar]

Let's wind up the Jerusalem scene and see how the murder of Stephen, the first martyr of record in Acts, backfired on the Jewish religious leaders big time. Their stoning of Stephen actually advanced the cause of the gospel! This is another great example, in fact, of how God can take an evil act turn it into a good for his own glory.

We don't know a whole lot about Stephen except that he was a devout, God-fearing, Messiah-believing, Spirit-filled Jew who was held in high esteem by the people and the apostles. He was held in such high regard, he was actually one of the first deacons on record to be appointed by the Jerusalem congregation of disciples at the direction of the apostles, so that he could help serve hungry people, while the apostles continued to preach the gospel (Act 6:1-6).

But chapter 6 does go on to tell us that was full of grace and power and was performing "great signs and wonders" among the people, no doubt winning many of them over. And this greatly angered a certain sect of non-believing Jews. So, we'll pick up the story from this point.

Acts 6:8-15
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council. 13 And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place, and the Law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us." 15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.
NASB

The bold part is noteworthy because for the most part, these were the standard fare charges that would constantly be brought against Paul by the Jews after his conversion. They would tell kings, and governors and councils that Paul was a blasphemer, that he was anti-Jewish customs, anti-Jewish traditions, anti-Moses, anti-Law and most of that this Jessu sect preached that their temple would one day be destroyed, which of course Jesus did predict and that prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D.

So once again, the Sanhedrin is confronting another believer and man...did Stephen ever give them an earful! The sermon he preached is lengthy, taking up most of chapter 7. And the Word he preached cut them to the quick. In fact, his gospel/sermon is a great illustration of the truth taught in Heb 4:12, which reads:

Heb 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
NASB

They were so convicted by the truth that they couldn't bear listening to him any longer.

Acts 7:54-60
54 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears, and they rushed upon him with one impulse. 58 And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 60 And 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.
NASB

So, even in his death, Stephen was still full of grace, crying out to his Lord to forgive his murderers.

And part of the audience who watched this stoning and approved of it was none other than a guy named Saul, who later on becomes Paul after his conversion (8:1).

But Stephen's life, his witness, his testimony and all the signs and wonders he performed could not be allowed to stand. Stephen actually brought on a great persecution of the Jerusalem church.

Acts 8:2-3
2 And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
NASB

So, now the gospel moved out from its epicenter in Jerusalem. The only recourse the non-believing Jews had was to arrest and/or kill their Jewish brethren who believed in the Messiah. They thought that persecuting the Jerusalem church would put an end to this blasphemous, heretical Jesus sect. But how wrong they were!

So, as a recap, numerous Hellenstic Jews were converted on the Day of Pentecost. And these Jews would eventually be the seed cells that would carry the gospel back to their homelands throughout Asia Minor.

After their conversion at least 5,000 men, alone, were converted and added to the Church. And then even more added to that number after all the apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin. And then finally, the gospel moved out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria in the wake of Stephen's martyrdom.

Because the Jewish religious establishment could not refute the gospel FACTS, since they had no physical body to produce to refute the resurrection of Jesus, and they could not refute the apostolic miracles that were performed in Jerusalem or refute Stephen's numerous "signs and wonders", they were left with no alternative but to turn against Christ's church in order to cut off the gospel message before it got out of control. But...it was already too late! There would be no stopping the Message of Life. Gamaliel's ironic prophecy came to pass. History bears out the truth that Jews found themselves fighting with God and, therefore, could not stop the spread of Christianity.

As Paul once wrote -- to paraphrase: "one man plants, another waters but God gives the increase" (1Cor 3:7). And that's exactly what happened from the Day of Pentecost.

This is the most reasonable, rational and straightforward way of understanding how the Gospel of Jesus Christ could have spread from Jerusalem so rapidly by a rag-tag bunch of unlearned, uneducated, uncultured Jesus believers throughout the Roman Empire. And once Saul converted and became Paul and he took his ministry primary to the Gentiles throughout Asia Minor, Spain and Rome itself, then the gospel really took off throughout the entire world.