Stephen #91

Stephen was an early Christian leader in Jerusalem and, in the traditional understanding, the first Christian martyr. His story fills Acts 6 and 7 and is important both for what he taught and for the way his death helped scatter the church and introduced the future apostle Paul. His name comes from the Greek stephanos, meaning “crown” or “wreath.”

Biblical Significance

Acts 6 begins with a dispute in the growing church. The Greek-speaking Jewish believers complained that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles asked the community to choose seven men “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,” and Stephen, described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,” heads the list (Acts 6:1-6). He was soon doing “great wonders and miracles among the people” and debating members of a Greek-speaking synagogue. When they could not withstand his arguments, they arranged for false witnesses to accuse him of speaking against the temple and the law (Acts 6:8-14).

Brought before the council, Stephen delivers the longest speech in Acts. He retells Israel’s history from Abraham through Moses and Solomon, arguing that God is not confined to a building made by hands and that the people have repeatedly resisted the Holy Spirit and their prophets (Acts 7:2-53). The council reacted with fury. Stephen, looking up, said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). The crowd dragged him out of the city and stoned him. Those witnessing laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, who approved of the killing (Acts 7:58; 8:1). As he died Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and then, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:59-60), words that closely echo Jesus’ own words on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

Legacy

Stephen’s death began a wave of persecution that scattered believers beyond Jerusalem, carrying the gospel to Judea, Samaria and eventually Antioch (Acts 8:1; 11:19). Saul, the persecutor, became Paul the apostle, who later recalled that he had stood by approving when the blood of “thy martyr Stephen” was shed (Acts 22:20).

The Greek word for witness is martys, which is the root of the English “martyr.” Stephen’s prayer for his killers has shaped Christian teaching on forgiveness and nonviolence under persecution. Christians in the West traditionally remember him on December 26, and many churches and hospitals carry his name.