The Church had just established the Office of Deacon to free pastors (at this time, the Apostles) to focus on Word and Sacrament ministry. Deacons assisted the pastor, primarily focusing on the physical needs of parishioners. Yet, we see they also did more, as we see evidences with Stephen, one of the ordained deacons.
Read Acts 6:7
- Which class of people became part of the Church?
- What does this say about which group of people predominately made up the Church at that time?
- Discuss “became obedient to the faith.”
- Discuss “became obedient to the faith.”
The Martyrdom of Stephen
Read Acts 6:8-15
Synagogue of the Freedmen: A synagogue made up of diaspora Jews, many of whom were formerly slaves. They most likely would’ve used the Greek-language Septuagint exclusively as their scriptures. It is unclear from Luke’s language usage whether these were several synagogues of diaspora Jews that came together or one synagogue with people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia Minor.
- Who was Stephen?
- How does Luke’s description show that he was doing more than waiting on tables when he was assisting the Apostles?
- What took place between the Synagogue of the Freedmen and Stephen?
- What did they do when they found Stephen too persuasive?
- What did Stephen’s face being “like the face of an angel” testify to the Sanhedrin?
Read Acts 7:1-50
In the Old Covenant, God was present in the form of His shekinah in the Temple. But Stephen said, “The Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands.”
- How are we to understand Stephen’s words said to those who were still following the Old Covenant?
- What meaning do those words of Stephen have for us in the New Covenant?
Excursus: Understanding the Sweep of Old-Testament History
Stephen proclaimed Jesus Christ to the Sanhedrin. When Stephen condensed the prophetic history of Israel, he told how God fulfilled the promise He had made to Abraham of a Savior. God pointed forward, even more clearly, of this fulfillment to come when He gave His Law to Moses. For the One about whom Moses spoke was with them in the wilderness and has authority above Moses (Acts 7:37-38).
Jesus Christ is the Head of a more-excellent and glorious kingdom than the one in the wilderness. For God has appointed Jesus as the heir of all things, through whom He made the universe, and who upholds everything by His powerful Word (Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus is the same One by whom righteousness was credited to Abraham (Romans 4:22). He is the same One who led the Israelites by the pillar of cloud by day, bringing them through the Red Sea, baptizing “them into Moses” on their way out of Egypt. He is the Rock whom Moses struck, from which poured forth living water, from which they all drank the same spiritual drink (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).
The Apostle Paul tells us that the Old Testament’s sweep of history serves as an example for us. But why? It was so sin would no longer control us and that faith may flower (1 Corinthians 10:6). We should not do as some of Israelites did, because they were destroyed (1 Corinthians 10:10). Their experiences in the wilderness happened as examples for us–and the Holy Spirit ensured that writers recorded those events to teach us that Jesus is the One, “on whom the end of time has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
What does all this mean? Simply this: Jesus’ coming as God in the flesh is the goal and end of all history. As Christians, we are to understand and interpret history through the lens of the cross, for it is there, through the foolishness of the cross of Christ that God reveals His will and purpose for the world. God becoming man was so significant that no other revelation follows after it, for Jesus Christ sums up all things, spiritual and temporal. “In many portion and many ways, God spoke to his people by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 11:1-2).
That’s why Jesus Christ has freed us from the guardianship and curse of the Law and has made us sons of God through faith in Him (Galatians 3:25-26). Although we were dead in our trespasses and sins, God has made us alive in Christ by grace, raised us with Him, in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). This same Jesus Christ will return on the Last Day (Revelation 22:10, 26; 22:14). And so in God-given wisdom, we watch, faithfully expecting His return on the Last Day (Psalm 130:6; 1Corinthians 16:13; Matthew 24:42, 26:41; Mark 13:35; Acts 20:31; 1Thessalonians 5:6; 1Peter 4:7; Revelation 3:2, 22:12, 20).
Read Acts 7:51-53
- What did Stephen do concerning the Sanhedrin in this passage?
- Discuss “stiff-necked,” “uncircumcised hearts and ears,” and resisting “the Holy Spirit.”
Read Acts 7: 54-60
- How did the Sanhedrin respond after Stephen preached the Law to them?
- What particular phrase did Stephen say that enraged the Sanhedrin all the more?
- What then happened?
Excursus: Why the phrase “Son of Man” would enrage the Sanhedrin, especially the Pharisees
To understand what the term “Son of Man” meant to 1st-century Jews, we have to look to the Old Testament and others books that helped shape their religious worldview, in this case, primarily 1 Enoch. The term “Son of Man” carried much meaning to 1st-century Pharisees (not so much with the Sadducees because they were less apt to read writings beyond the five books of Moses, the Torah).
Daniel 7:13-14 reads:
“I [Daniel] continued to watch the night vision and there before me was someone like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. He [the Son of Man] was given authority to rule, glory, and a kingdom, so that every people, nation, and language should serve him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Daniel did not say that “the Son of Man” was divine, nor did he use the word “Messiah” to describe him. What Stephen had said in Acts 7:56 was similar to what Daniel had said. If so, why then would the Sanhedrin hear Stephen’s words as blasphemous? It’s because for them, the term, “Son of Man,” specifically referred to the promised Messiah.
Since Stephen said that he saw the “Son of Man” with God the Father, that would mean that Jesus, whom he was proclaiming, was the Messiah and even divine. To them that was blasphemy. But again why would the term, “Son of Man,” carry such meaning with it?
To understand why, we need to look to non-Scriptural writings to show how they came to that understanding.
1 Enoch is a writing attributed to the Enoch of Genesis 5:24. It reads:
And in those days my eyes saw the Elect One of righteousness and of faith, and righteousness will prevail in his days, and the righteous and elect ones will be without number before him forever and ever [1 Enoch 39:6].
This “Elect One” is distinct from God the Father. Early references to this “Elect One” include:
On that day, my Elect One will sit on the seat of glory and make a selection of their deeds . . . [1 Enoch 45:3]
On that day, I will cause my Elect One to dwell among them. I will transform heaven and make it a blessing of light forever. I will [also] transform the earth and make it a blessing, and cause my Elect One to dwell on it [the earth]. [1 Enoch 45:4]
We now see that the Elect One has a significant role. He is righteous and will remain forever. He will sit on the throne of glory, and act as judge.
Since this “Elect One” is also identified as the Son of Man in 1 Enoch, we now see what else 1 Enoch has for the phrase, “Son of Man.”
1 Enoch 46:1-5 reads:
At that place, I saw the One to whom belongs the time before time. And his head was white like wool, and there was with him another individual, whose face was like that of a human being. His face was full of grace like that of one among the holy angels. And I asked the one–from among the angels–who was going with me, and who had revealed to me all the secrets regarding the One who was born of human beings, “who is this, and from where is he who is going as the prototype of the Before-Time?” And he answered me and said to me, “This is the Son of Man, to whom belongs righteousness, and with whom righteousness dwells. And he will open all the hidden storerooms; for the Lord of the Spirits has chosen him, and he is destined to be victorious before the Lord of the Spirits in eternal uprightness. This Son of Man whom you have seen is the One who would remove the kings and the mighty ones from their comfortable seats and the strong ones from their thrones. He will loosen the reigns of the strong and crush the teeth of the sinners. He will depose the kings from their thrones and kingdoms, for they do not extol and glorify him, and neither do they obey him, the source of their kingship.
The “One to whom belongs the time before time” (vs. 1) is the “Ancient of Days” of Daniel 7. We are also told that “his head was white like wool,” language that also comes from Daniel 7:9. In 1 Enoch 47:3, he is referred to as the Antecedent of Time. The other “individual, whose face was like that of a human being,” is patterned after the “Son of Man” of Daniel 7:13-14. He is described as “full of grace,” as “one who was born of human beings,” and as the one “who is going as the prototype of the Before-Time.”
1 Enoch 48:2-6, 10 reads:
At that hour, that Son of Man was given a name, in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits, the Before-Time. Even before the creation of the sun and the moon, before the creation of the stars, he [the Son of Man] was given a name in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits. He will become a staff for the righteous ones that they may lean on him and not fall. He is the light of the Gentiles and he will become the hope of those who are sick in their hearts. All those who dwell on the earth will fall down and worship before him; they will glorify, bless, and sing the name of the Lord of the Spirits. For this purpose, he became the Chosen One; he was concealed in the presence of [the Lord of the Spirits] before the creation of the world, and for eternity. And he has revealed the wisdom of the Lord of the Spirits to the righteous and the holy ones… For they have denied the Lord of the Spirits and his Messiah. Blessed be the name of the Lord of the Spirits!
Here the Son of Man exists before creation, and is given a name. He will be a support for the righteous; He will be the light of the gentiles. All on earth will worship before him; he became the Chosen One; he was concealed in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits before the creation of the world, and for eternity. He is the revealer of the wisdom of God–he is also the Messiah!
When we understand what the term “Son of Man” meant in Stephen’s day, it enables us to see why the Sanhedrin became so angry at him. When Stephen called Jesus the “Son of Man” and said that He was at the “right hand of God,” Stephen was saying that Jesus is the Messiah, even divine! When Stephen called Jesus the “Son of Man,” that was the last straw for them. They lost control and stoned Stephen to death.
Click here to go to the next lesson.
