⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹But 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. ¹⁰But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. ¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” ¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. ¹³They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; ¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

Stephen had quite the resume. He was one of the seven men chosen by the early believers to be entrusted with looking after the fair distribution of the benevolence. As such, he was a man “of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3), “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), “full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8a), and he “was performing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8b). As this story unfolds, we see his acute understanding of theology! His initial ministry responsibility and character were proven in the daily serving of food to the widows. He was no ivory-tower academic or cleric in a dusty pulpit. He was very much hands-on!

In Stephen and later Philip (in Acts 8), we see God at work in the seven chosen men. With Stephen we see the first martyrdom of the Christian movement. It began among the Hellenistic Jews, at the Synagogue of the Freedmen. We surmise those who opposed Stephen were Jews who had attained Roman citizenship and relocated to Israel. As it turns out they were out of their depth in arguing with him. The wisdom and Spirit he demonstrated could not be assailed, so they turned to lies, accusing him of blasphemy. We see mirrored here the experience of the Lord Jesus when He was opposed by the Jewish leaders of His time (Matt. 26:59–66)!

The Lord Jesus Christ suffered, the apostles suffered for preaching Christ, and now we see other Christians being persecuted and falsely charged. This has become the norm for Christians through the ages and continues to this day. Living godly lives and telling others about Christ often results in persecution, but God continually raises up His people to take a stand, regardless of the consequences. Which of us today is willing to stand with those who have gone before us, preaching Christ regardless of the opposition?

Lord, I want to be counted among those who speak up for Jesus Christ.