NOTES for Act 7:47-60; Act 6:8-7:5
Today we witness the first death among Christians, unless Ananias and Sapphira are counted as Christians (see Acts 5:1–11). And the very first Christian to die is a martyr. The world continues to reject Christ and His followers. The chief priests were afraid to put Christ Himself to death without the Romans because He was too greatly loved by many among the people. Once they had dealt with Him, however, they no longer stood on ceremony with His disciples. The Sanhedrin before which Stephen appears once again hears open accusations against itself, accusations of having caused the death of the Righteous One. They had already grown thoroughly tired of this: they had heard it from Peter and John at least twice (see Acts 4:5–12; 5:27–32). This time, however, they could not restrain themselves. They were provoked when Stephen honestly told them what he not only knew but actually saw. Like Christ, he bore witness to objective reality before the world: the world is in sin, but Jesus has brought salvation. The world has no need of such truth... When Christ said, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you,” He also said, “A servant is not greater than his master” (see John 15:20). Stephen, a man “full of faith and power” and a true disciple of Christ, speaks before his death almost the very words his Teacher spoke on the cross: he asks the Lord to forgive his persecutors... And despite everything, the Church continues to grow and become stronger precisely because it continues to act as her Lord commanded and as He Himself acted.