[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
2. The Age of the prophets; St Stephen's martyrdom
Acts VII : 45-59
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| The stoning of St Stephen. Fra Angelico. 1447-9 . Nicccoline Chapel. |
[46] Who found grace before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
[47] But Solomon built him a house.
[48] Yet the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands, as the prophet saith:
[49] Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What house will you build me? saith the Lord; or what is the place of my resting?
[50] Hath not my hand made all these things?
[51] You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also.
[52] Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers:
[53] Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
[54] Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him.
[55] But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
[56] And they crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him.
[57] And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul.
[58] And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
[59] And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his death.
[45] Quod et induxerunt, suscipientes patres nostri cum Jesu in possessionem gentium, quas expulit Deus a facie patrum nostrorum, usque in diebus David, [46] qui invenit gratiam ante Deum, et petiit ut inveniret tabernaculum Deo Jacob. [47] Salomon autem aedificavit illi domum. [48] Sed non Excelsus in manufactis habitat, sicut propheta dicit : [49] Caelum mihi sedes est : terra autem scabellum pedum meorum. Quam domum aedificabitis mihi, dicit Dominus? aut quis locus requietionis meae est? [50] Nonne manus mea fecit haec omnia?
[51] Dura cervice, et incircumcisis cordibus, et auribus, vos semper Spiritui Sancto resistitis; sicut patres vestri, ita et vos. [52] Quem prophetarum non sunt persecuti patres vestri? Et occiderunt eos qui praenuntiabant de adventu Justi, cujus vos nunc proditores et homicidae fuistis : [53] qui accepistis legem in dispositione angelorum, et non custodistis. [54] Audientes autem haec dissecabantur cordibus suis, et stridebant dentibus in eum. [55] Cum autem esset plenus Spiritu Sancto, intendens in caelum, vidit gloriam Dei, et Jesum stantem a dextris Dei. Et ait : Ecce video caelos apertos, et Filium hominis stantem a dextris Dei.
[56] Exclamantes autem voce magna continuerunt aures suas, et impetum fecerunt unanimiter in eum. [57] Et ejicientes eum extra civitatem lapidabant : et testes deposuerunt vestimenta sua secus pedes adolescentis qui vocabatur Saulus. [58] Et lapidabant Stephanum invocantem, et dicentem : Domine Jesu, suscipe spiritum meum. [59] Positis autem genibus, clamavit voce magna, dicens : Domine, ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Et cum hoc dixisset, obdormivit in Domino. Saulus autem erat consentiens neci ejus.
Notes
45. our fathers receiving. The Greek runs, “ our fathers having received it in succession” (ᾐν και εἰσηγαγον διαδεξαμενοι κ.τ.α.). Those who first received the Ark of the Covenant never entered the Promised Laud, as a punishment for their disobedience.
brought in with Jesus. Josue and Jesus are two forms of the same name. St Stephen here refers to Josue leading the people into the Promised Land, when the Ark of the Covenant was carried before them.
Cf. The heralds went through the midst of the camp of Israel proclaiming : Let there be between you and the ark the space of two thousand cubits : that you may see it afar off, and know which way you must go (Jos. iii. 2, 4).
Wordsworth has an excellent note here : “ It is observable that the name of Jesus, though ever in the thoughts of St Stephen, and, as it were, hovering on his lips in almost every sentence, is never expressed in his speech but here, where it does not mean Jesus of Nazareth, but Jesus (or Joshua) the son of Nun. How much wisdom was there in this ! If he had openly spoken as he felt concerning Jesus of Nazareth, he would have been stopped at once by the rage of his hearers (see vv. 53, 54), and the Christian Church would never have had the speech of St Stephen. There was divine eloquence in his silence. And all his words were, and ever will be, πφοναντα συνετοισι i.e, vocal to the wise. And this word Jesus — not used for Christ, but for Joshua, the type of Christ— is full of meaning. It is significant of the fact already insisted on — that the whole speech is allusive to Christ ” (in h. 1.).
into the possession of the gentiles, — i.e. when the Israelites entered into Canaan, the portion or possession of the Gentiles (ἐν τη κατασχεσει των ἐθνων).
46. Who found grace before God. Thus St Stephen indirectly refutes the accusation of blasphemy against the Temple by speaking with the greatest reverence of David, who conceived the project to build it, and of Solomon, who executed what his father had planned.
desired to find. David did not obtain permission to build the Temple. This privilege was reserved for Solomon, of whom God said, by the lips of Nathan : He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever (2 Kings vii. 13).
48. Yet the Most High, etc. St Stephen now argues that although God permitted a Temple to be raised in His honour, yet He by no means restricted His favours or presence to that spot.
None had realised this better than Solomon, who at the dedication of the Temple prayed thus : Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth ? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built? (3 Kings viii. 27).
49. Heaven is my throne. St Stephen quotes verbatim from Is. lxvi.1 - 2 .
50. Hath not ? etc. In the original these words are in the form of an affirmation.
51. You stiff -neched and uncircumcised. The epithets are frequently applied to the stubborn Israelites by God, e.g. —
Thou art a stiff-necked people (Ex. xxxiii. 3). I also will walk against them, and bring them into their enemies' land, until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed (Lev. xxvi. 41).
By “ stiff-necked ” we must understand “disobedient,” and by “uncircumcised” their refusal to bend their intelligence and will to accept the truths revealed by God. In these vehement words St Stephen’s strong, long pent-up indignation bursts forth.
you always resist the Holy Ghost. They resisted the Holy Spirit who had spoken to them through Christ Himself, through St Peter, through St Stephen and the apostles ; and although in each case they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit that spoke, yet instead of accepting the truth, their one desire was to rid themselves of those whose doctrines they so hated ; thus they had crucified Jesus, they had scourged the apostles, and now they were preparing to murder St Stephen.
52. Which of the prophets etc. St Stephen here echoes our Lord’s own word. Cf. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you (St Matt. V. 12). Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee (St Luke xiii. 34). Woe to you who build the monuments of the prophets : and your fathers killed them (ibid, xi. 47).
If St Stephen was one of the Seventy-two disciples, he had heard our Lord pronounce some of these denunciations.
the Just One. This was one of the titles of the Messias. St Stephen still refrains from mentioning the Name of Jesus, but his hearers cannot but understand of whom he speaks.
St James in his epistle uses almost exactly the same words : You have condemned and put to death the Just One, and he resisted you not (v, 6).
the betrayers and murderers. Thus the proto-martyr places his adversaries on a level with Judas and Barabbas.
53. by the disposition of Angels. See Annot. on verse 38. Jesus Christ Himself was “ the Angel of the Covenant.”
and have not kept it. St Stephen here accuses his judges of the charge which was brought against himself falsely.
54. cut to the heart. See Annot. on v. 33.
gnashed with their teeth at him. Their rage was so violent that they were unable to articulate. Those of his hearers who were implicated in the death of Jesus would feel that St Stephen’s bold language imperilled their safety.
The expression ‘‘to gnash the teeth” is generally used metaphorically in the Scriptures,— cf. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (St Matt. viii. 12),— and it signifies violent passion. This passage of the Acts is one of the rare examples in which the mechanical act is recorded. The demoniac boy, in his convulsions, also gnashed his teeth (St Mark ix. 17).
55. being. The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit is marked by the Greek participle employed here (ὑπαρχων not ᾠν).
St Stephen was not merely endowed with this pleniitude for a special emergency, but was habitually full of the Holy Ghost. This was one of the conditions required for the office of a deacon, and it was this fulness of the Spirit which, from the outset of his career, enabled him to work great wonders and signs (supra, vi. 8).
looking up steadfastly. See Annot, on i. 10, iii. 4.
the glory of God. St Stephen began his discourse by speaking of the God of glory ; and at the close, a vision of that glory is granted to him, in order to strengthen him in the supreme hour of combat.
For other references to visions of the glory of God, see Exod. xxiv. passim ; Is. vi. *, Ezech. i. 28 ; Apoc. xxi.
In his ecstasy the valiant soldier of Christ is no longer conscious of his earthly surroundings ; he sees only Jesus in the glory of heaven, whereof the Lamb is the lamp (Apoc. xxi. 23).
standing. Jesus is generally represented as sitting on the right hand of God, but, as St John Chrysostom beautifully writes, “Jesus had risen from the throne of His majesty to succour His persecuted servant and to receive him to Himself.” “Sitting is the attitude of the judge, standing that of the one who fights or succours” (St Greg.). Jesus is ever at hand to succour His faithful servants in their hour of need.
the heavens opened. Lit. “ opened asunder ” (διηνοιγμενους ). The vision was evidently objective to St Stephen, but none of those present in the Council hall were allowed to see it.
In the same way, when our Lord appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus his companions saw no man, but in this case they did hear a voice (infra, ix. 7). Had the members of the Council seen the vision, they could not have accused St Stephen of blasphemy when he asserted that he saw the Son of Man in glory.
the Son of man. We find this title in Daniel (vii. 13), and our Lord frequently applied it to Himself, but it only occurs here in the Acts, twice in the Apocalypse (i. 13, xiv. 14).
56. And they crying out. Better, “but they cried out” (κραξαντες δε). St Stephen’s exclamation brought matters to a climax. In our Lord’s trial, as in that of His first martyr, the judges deemed that a sin of blasphemy had been committed in the very presence of the Council. The same men sat as judges on both these trials.
stopped their ears. By this action and by crying out they expressed their horror of blasphemy, which they imagined St Stephen to have committed.
The verb used signifies to press or draw together, and on the practice of stopping the ears, a Jewish writer asks : “ Wherefore is the whole ear hard, but the flap soft ? That if any hear an unbecoming word he may press up the flap and shut his ear” (quoted by Lumby, Gk. Test.).
ran violently upon him. Their exasperation so overcame them that they could not restrain themselves any longer.
57. casting him forth. The city of Jerusalem, like the camp of Israel in the desert, was considered holy ground. Hence it was forbidden to shed blood there, e.g . —
Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp, and let them that heard him put their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him (Lev. xxiv. 14). In like manner Jesus was crucified without the gate (Heb. xiii. 12). Once the Jews, in their mad fury, forgot this prohibition when, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, they took up stones wherefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple (St John viii. 69). St Augustine remarks on this passage that the Sanhedrists procured punishment for themselves and a crown of glory for Stephen. Hence the devil outwits himself, since he co-operates in making our martyrs (Serm. 215).
they stoned him. Lit. “ they began to stone ” (ἐλθοβολουν) ; the pronoun is not expressed in the Greek. Stoning was the punishment inflicted for blasphemy.
The Talmud thus describes this mode of death : “ The culprit, pinioned, and stripped of his clothes, ascended a scaffold erected (outside the city), twice the height of a man, whence one of the witnesses pushed him down, so that he fell with his face to the ground." If death ensued, there was no occasion for stoning; but if in the accused there still remained life, then the other witness flung a very large stone at his chest ; and if, after this, the culprit was still not dead, the people pelted him with stones till life was extinct, thus conforming to the command in Dent. xvii. 7.
witnesses. Two witnesses were required by the Mosaic law (Deut xvii. 7). The active part they took in executing the sentence was intended to deter men from making false accusations ; and though, in this case, the charge was false, yet undoubtedly the Sanhedrists were convinced that St Stephen had blasphemed.
Our Lord referred to the obligation of the witness as regards executing the sentence when, speaking of the woman taken in adultery. He said : Let him first cast a stone at her (St John viii. 7).
laid down their garments. They put off their outer garments, which might have hindered freedom of action when casting the stones.
a young man. The Greek word used (νεανιας) may be applied to a man between the ages of twenty-four and forty. If Saul was a member of the Sanhedrin, he was at least thirty years of age. St John Chrysostom conjectures that he was about thirty-five.
Saul. The name “Saul” means “asked” (i.e. of God, in prayer). He was evidently a prominent member of the synagogue of the Cilicians, and we know by his own words that he approved of the action of the Council.
Cf. And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I stood by and consented, and kept the garments of them that killed him (infra, xxii. 20). “ This Saul was afterwards called Paul; — Saul was the persecutor, and Paul the preacher. What a great and divine spectacle ! He who was the persecutor in the death of Stephen, is made a preacher of the kingdom of heaven ’’ (St Aug.).
58. invoking. Here the object of the first participle must be supplied. The context shews that the word is “ Lord.” The verb employed (ἐπικαλουμενον) is generally used of supplications to the Divinity, and consequently it shows that St Stephen invoked Christ as God.
“Thus St Stephen teaches, with his dying breath, that the Name of Jesus is to be called upon and worshipped.”
Lord Jesus receive my spirit. Note how closely St Stephen’s prayer resembled our Lord’s : Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (St Luke xxiii. 46). How many martyrs and Christians have repeated St Stephen’s words in their last hour, e.g. St Polycarp and St Bernard.
59. falling on his knees. The original gives the usual Greek expression for kneeling down ( θεις δε τα γονατα) “having placed the knees,” whence we may infer that St Stephen knelt down to pray before the witnesses cast the first stone.
Lord, lay not this sin, etc. Lit. “ Set it not down ” to their account. The Greek verb expressed “weighing out” or “putting down” some- thing to a person’s account. Once more the disciple imitates his divine Master. Cf. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (St Luke xxiii. 34). “ The prayer of the dying martyr was heard, for if St Stephen had not prayed, the Church would not have possessed St Paul” (St Aug., serm. 315).
he fell asleep. This is a metaphor for death common to most languages, and our word cemetery signifies a “ sleeping place.” What a contrast ! The adversaries rejoice because they have conquered the disciple of Christ ; they gaze with ferocious pleasure on his mangled body ; meanwhile the soul of the noble proto-martyr is welcomed to the heavenly mansions, and Stephen receives the martyr’s crown.
“St Stephen feared not death because Christ, who he knew had died for him, he saw living, and on this account he rejoiced to die for Him that he might live with Him. Therefore, brethren, let us follow Stephen (i.e. the crowned one), for if we follow him, we too shall be crowned.” (St Aug.).
Saul was consenting to his death. Hence Saul shared in the guilt of those who murdered St Stephen, for to consent to an evil deed incurs the same responsibility as the actual performance of that deed. How the scene must have recurred to him when he himself was called to undergo the same punishment, although he was miraculously preserved from death (see infra, xiv. 18).
Lessons to be learned from St Stephen’s martyrdom : —
(а) To be courageous in professing our faith.
(b) To count on God’s help in our hours of trial.
(c) To forgive and pray for our enemies.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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