Stephen - The First Christian Martyr

Acts 6:1-9, 7:51-60

Today’s Scripture passages bring us to the days of the very early church.  We will look at the ministry and death of Stephen, the Church’s first martyr.  We’ll see how Stephen helped in resolving a conflict that threatened to divide believers, and how he strongly defended the Faith from attack, which led to his martyrdom.

Though the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus would have been a very recent memory for all of the believers, and the Church was steadily growing, problems were already arising. At this time in the early Church, the believers were all of Jewish background, as there was yet no outreach to any Gentiles.  However, among the Jewish believers there were those who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and lived very culturally Jewish lives, and then there were also Jews who, over the past several centuries spread throughout the Mediterranean. These Jews spoke Greek as their first language, and had picked up much of the Greek way of life.  Some had returned to Israel and Jerusalem, yet retained the Greek language and culture.  Some of these “Greek Jews” had come to faith in Christ, just as many of the “Hebrew-speaking Jews” had.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of animosity between these two groups.

In the very early Church, when most believers came to faith in Christ, they were disowned and cast out of their Jewish families, and often lost their jobs.  That was a financial hardship to many.  They would need the help of fellow believers, especially the widows and orphans.  The church leaders organized a daily distribution of food and other necessities.  However, very quickly prejudice and discrimination developed between the groups of Hebrew speaking and Greek speaking believers, and the Greek speaking believers were not being given the help they needed (vs. 1).  They were being treated like second-class believers, and not being supported.  As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, we should treat all fellow Christians with love, regardless of what nation they are from, what language they speak, what color their skin, etc.

The apostles knew this was not right, and they commissioned seven godly men, who would ensure that everyone was equally treated, and would help with the distribution of food and necessities.  These men were to be godly, filled with the Holy Spirit, and show wisdom in their actions (vs. 3).  Stephen was one of these men.  This way the apostles could concentrate on preaching.  The ministry of the Word of God should never be neglected because of administrative duties.  That is why the office of deacon was begun.  Good activities can consume our time and take us away from God’s best for us.  We need to stay focused on what God has called us to do, and not get distracted by other tasks.  God called the apostles to preach.  The seven were called to be helpers in the early church.

In addition to being a helper in the early church, Stephen was a strong witness.  Both his character, conduct, and conversation gave a testimony to the Lord Jesus.  It didn’t take too long before the Jewish religious leaders, Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin took notice of Stephen, and they were not happy at all.  Stephen continued to tell others about Jesus, His death for salvation, and His resurrection, and it wasn’t long before the religious leaders took him into custody.

This didn’t stop Stephen from speaking a witness for the Savior, as he proceeded in telling these Jewish leaders about Jesus.  He would have known that this was a risky thing to do, as the apostles and other believers had been imprisoned and beaten before, however that did not stop him.  Stephen’s message to these religious leaders supported Jesus’ claim and angered them, since these were the ones who had condemned Jesus to death.  They would not tolerate Stephen's words, so they dragged him out to stone him to death (vs. 55-58).  They were rejecting God in the same way that their ancestors had rejected Him in the Old Testament (vs. 51-53).  Jesus, Himself, had told a parable to the Jews, how they had constantly rejected God’s message, and persecuted His messengers (Luke 20:9-19).

Scripture tells us that when Jesus ascended, He sat down at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1).  Yet when Stephen was stoned to death, Jesus stood to welcome home the first Christian martyr! (vs. 56).  Stephen forgave his murderers, echoing the same words Jesus spoke as He died (vs. 60).  Saul (later known as Paul), who was standing by and approving what was done, must have heard that.  Stephen’s testimony and death had planted the seeds of faith in his heart, which a while later brought forth a strong faith in Paul.  These final words of Stephen made an impression on him, as years later when he was in prison and mistreated, he prayed the same for those who had wronged him (II Timothy 4:16).

Stephen gives us an example of doing faithfully what the Lord calls us to do, as he assisted the church and faithfully witnessed.  We may or may not one day be called upon to shed our blood for Jesus.  If so, can we faithfully stay true to Him to the end?