54 Now when they heard this, they became furious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord. 58 And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7: 54-60 LSB
Acts 7: 54-60 The Murder of Stephen
V. 54a Now when they heard this - This goes back to Stephen's sermon, and a quick recap: 1. Stephen went through their shared history as Jews. 2. They accused him of speaking against Moses and the temple, but he refutes this by simply walking them through the story of Moses, and Moses own prophecy about a Prophet Who would come after him. He recounts the reaction of their forefathers towards Moses. 3. He indicts them for being no different than their fathers when it comes to the Holy Spirit. They persecuted the messengers and now they have killed God's Righteous One, the Messiah.
…10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.… Isaiah 53: 10-12
Moses and the Law (Acts 7:17-43) - Response to the Charge of blaspheming Moses (Acts 6:11+) and Speaking against the Law (Acts 6:13+)
The Indictment the Jews (Acts 7:51-53) - PA
V. 54b They became furious in their hearts - If you look at verses 51-53, he calls them stiff-necked, like oxen that raise their head and refuse the yoke. He accuses them of being murderers which is no small charge. Imagine being a Jew and told that you killed your long awaited Messiah, the One Who would vanquish your enemies and bring peace. He came, you saw Him, but you didn't recognize Him. That's like running up a mountain to escape water because you didn't get in the ark that was sent to carry you through the flood. It's like seeing yourself as the great purveyor and protector of truth, only to be called a liar and a murderer. They did exactly what their forefathers did to God's true prophets, only this time to the Landowner's Son. The Jewish Sanhedrin saw themselves as well educated, refined, and discerning, but just like those who went before them, they elevated traditions, wallowed in pride, promoted false prophets, and killed God's true prophets. They were materialist, satisfied with their works, and the only thing they felt they needed was for a Messiah to come and rid them of Rome. The Pharisees wanted to hear that they were right for following their scribes, for weighing out herbs and adding so much to the law that wasn't there, but rejecting God's true intent. Of course the Sadducees were a bit mixed, they believed in no resurrection, and so were even more materialistic and just wanted their piece of the pie. Many of them didn't even mind Rome as long as they had their comforts.
51 “You men—stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears—are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 And which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not observe it.” Acts 7: 51-53 LSB
…36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. 38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.… Hebrews 11: 36-38
V. 54c They began gnashing their teeth at him - This is the same expression used of those in hell, weeping and gnashing of teeth. That will be an eternal bitterness. I believe that Jesus paid for the sins of everyone who believes at the cross. I believe that the promise of Him in the garden is what allowed for history to continue, that God had called the elect from eternity past, but what about those who are stiff-necked? Well, though they bow the knee of necessity, not being able to resist, their hearts remain hard, angry at God, and so for eternity they go on with the sin of pride, of hating their Creator, of exalting themselves and their feelings. They go on calling God unfair, and become more callous and unrepentant. God is Holy and infinitely opposed to sin, so for eternity they gnash their teeth at Him, and never receive His mercy. They continue in sin, and He continues to oppose it. They did not want God's One Way to be right with Him, and so they don't receive what they didn't want.
Gnashing (1031)(brucho) is used only here means to grind, making sounds by striking one's teeth together, grating, bite with a loud noise. Vincent - "Originally to eat greedily, with a noise, as wild beasts." Here with the noun teeth (odous). The related noun brugmos is used 7x in the Gospels - Mt 8:12, 13:42, 50, Mt 22:13, Mt 24:51, 25:30, Lk 13:28. The Sanhedrin are furious and grinding their teeth together like a pack of snarling, ravenous wolves! Stephen understood what this meant but he calmly (Spirit empowered) stood his ground, while his opponents were out of control (flesh empowered)!
Here is the tragedy of tragedies -- these religious men (if they never repented and believed) are in Hades today (and will thrown into Gehenna in Rev 20:11-15+) and are not repentant! They are not sorry they killed Stephen or His Savior! They are furious and still gnashing their teeth in rage and anger and this is what they will be doing throughout eternity! Woe!
Jesus was clear when He warned that "the sons of the kingdom (THE HEBREW NATION) will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing (brugmos) of teeth.” (Mt 8:12)
John MacArthur comments on the weeping and gnashing of teeth - "This expression describes the eternal agonies of those in hell....This speaks of inconsolable grief and unremitting torment. Jesus commonly used the phrases in this verse to describe hell (cf. Mt 13:42, 50; 24:51)." (The MacArthur Study Bible)
ESV Study Bible note on weeping and gnashing of teeth - This description of terrible suffering in hell appears several times in Matthew (cf. Mt. 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30) and in Luke 13:28. - PA
V. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit - We are told to be filled with the Spirit, which is to be more and more in the power and control of the Spirit, seeking Christ's glory over our own, made fit for ministry.
…21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.… Galatians 5: 21-23
And saw the glory of God - Stephen begins with a description of the God of glory (Acts 7:2) and now sees the glory of God. And not only that, but God's glory has been reflected from the face of Stephen during this entire speech (cf Acts 6:15). And likely the Sadducees (who preferred the Pentateuch) would recall Moses' shining face (Ex. 34:29-30). It was as though God was saying, "This man is not against Moses! To the contrary he is like Moses—he is My friend (cf Ex 33:11)!" And all of this is more than the anti-supernaturalists Sadducees can stomach! - PA
Vs. 55b -56 Son of Man standing at the right hand of God - This would have been considered blasphemy to the Sanhedrin. They had killed Jesus as a blasphemer, now this man with the glowing face is saying that he sees Jesus at the right hand of the Father. Now listen carefully so you don't make up some fanciful and demeaning picture in your mind. This is true, that, "no one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, God is Spirit, the Son is the image of the invisible God." So when Daniel, Isaiah, John and even Paul, see a vision of God, that is God making His presence known to those who have the senses that we have been afforded inside time and space. When He was with them in the wilderness, He made His presence known by the Shekinah, fire by night, cloud by day, a burning bush before Moses. This is God condescending to men of low estate, making himself known to us through our language and faculties. With the eyes I see the beauty and majesty of His creation, yet He is infinitely above what He makes. With the telescope and the microscope, I see further into the things that He has made, I marvel at the depths, yet He remains unfathomable. I hear His words every time someone reads the Holy Scriptures, and I study them to learn what He has made known. The visions of God given to men spoke to His otherliness, even Christ, as we can see in the transfiguration, reveals that He was fully man, and yet unveils that He is also otherly, fully God. These visions were also traumatizing, like darkness coming before light, or paper trying to touch the sun. No one doth protest so much as they say they will here, before even a vision, that much reality is beyond their ability to stand before, to make words, they melt away.
…17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known. 19And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”… John 1: 17-19
14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.… Colossians 1: 14-16
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.” Isaiah 6: 1-7
V. 57 They covered their ears and rushed at him - Grown men doing what little kids do. We actually see that a lot today with many strange movements. These guys are throwing away Roman law and forming a lynch mob. This is very emotionally charged with reasoning being set aside. Feelings have become the source of both anger and justification, just like a toddlers temper tantrum.
…10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing. 12They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.… Zechariah 7: 10-12
Robertson - No vote was taken by the Sanhedrin. No scruple was raised about not having the right to put him to death (John 8:31). It may have taken place after Pilate's recall and before his successor came or Pilate, if there, just connived at such an incident that did not concern Rome. At any rate it was mob violence like modern lynching that took the law into the hands of the Sanhedrin without further formalities. - PA
V. 58 They began stoning Him - The government, which would be Rome at this time, holds the power of death. These men have bypassed that. They are mad about being accused of murdering Jesus, and this man claiming that Jesus is at the right hand of God, so they murder him too. In their law, during the time of the Theocracy and not being a vassal kingdom, the punishment for blasphemy was stoning. They had lost this power long ago when they were taken over by Babylon and had come under Gentile rule.
…14“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him. 15 And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he shall bear the consequences of his sin. 16Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must surely be put to death; the whole assembly must surely stone him, whether he is a foreign resident or native; if he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.… Leviticus 24: 14-16
V. 59 Lord Jesus receive my spirit - What a powerful vision and comfort given to a man in the most violent of circumstances. I would rather be shot. There are breaks in this when they take off their coats to lay them at Saul's feet, so they can continue. They must be getting too hot from their work, and he is not dying quickly, but they are relentless. This is brutal, too agonizing even to think about.
…19‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You. 20And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”… Acts 22: 19-21
V. 60 Lord, do not hold this sin against them - What a powerful testimony. I have witnessed people dying, cursing other people in their life that they felt owed them. I have seen them curse the people that are present for not being able to make it stop, or maybe because they were going on living, and the one dying did not want to let go of this life, but Stephen dies with compassion towards his murderers. This is the blood of the martyrs that sparks the growth of the church. Satan means evil, these men mean evil, yet God uses this especially in the life of one of them standing there.
Blind Chang - The Boxer Rebellion in China was the largest massacre of Protestant missionaries in history, with 188 adults and children being killed. Thirty thousand Chinese Christians also perished during the summer of 1900 at the hands of the Boxers. Among them was Chang Shen, the best known evangelist in Manchuria.
Chang had been a notorious character prior to his conversion—a gambler, thief, and womanizer. At midlife he lost his eyesight, and neighbors considered it a judgment from God. Hearing of a missionary hospital in a distant area, Chang traveled hundreds of miles only to find all the beds full. The hospital chaplain kindly gave him his own bed, and over time, doctors partially restored Chang’s vision. In the process they introduced him to Jesus Christ.
When Chang asked for baptism, missionary James Webster told him, “Go home and tell your neighbors you have changed. I’ll visit you later, and if you are still following Jesus, I will baptize you.” When Webster arrived in Chang’s village five months later, he found hundreds of inquirers.
Chang’s eyesight didn’t last, but his evangelistic zeal did. He traveled from village to village, winning hundreds to Christ. Missionaries followed in his wake, baptizing and organizing churches of the converts he had won.
When he was finally arrested by the Boxers, he was put in an open cart and driven to a nearby graveyard while singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know. …” At the cemetery, he was shoved into a kneeling position. Three times he uttered the words of Stephen, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then the sword sliced through his neck like a knife through butter.
The Boxers were so deeply shaken by Chang’s quiet authority that they had his body drenched in oil and burned, so as to prevent, they thought, his resurrection. But still apprehensive, they retreated from the area altogether, thus saving other Christians from being butchered to death. (Robert Morgan - From this Verse)
David Reed - Acts 7:59–60
Jehovah’s Witnesses never address Jesus in prayer. They have been taught that their prayers must be directed only to the Father and that they must call him “Jehovah.” If a Witness were overheard praying to Jesus, he would be put on trial by a judicial committee and would be disfellowshiped unless he repented of his “sin.”
But the Scripture passage above clearly shows Stephen praying to Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. (The JW Bible changes “Lord” in v. 60 to “Jehovah,” but v. 59 still says “Jesus.”)
A Witness may try to claim that Stephen was not praying to Jesus; he was merely speaking to him face to face, because he saw him in a vision. In that case, ask the JW to read the context. The vision in verse 56 took place when Stephen was in Jerusalem, standing trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin court. When he told the Jews that he saw a vision of Christ in heaven at the right hand of the Father, they were filled with fury. They ended the trial, dragged Stephen out of the court chamber, led him through the city streets, took him all the way out of the city (v. 57), and then stoned him. This naturally took a considerable amount of time. There is no indication that Stephen’s vision as repeated again outside the city at the time of his stoning. Rather, he was, as the Scripture states, praying to Jesus. (Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse) - PA
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