As remarked earlier, Stephen is not providing a legal defense of his words or actions, nor is he responding to the false accusations against him. Instead he gives a clear defense of his faith using the Torah (that is the law, or portions of the Old Testament) which the Sadducees adhere to.
The storm brewing would take form as a conspiracy (Acts 6.8-8.1). When last we read acts it was discovered that a large number of priests became followers of the Messiah, threatening the power-base of the high council and giving credence to the testimony of the apostles. Luke doesn’t provide details to anything that he wasn’t present to account for, but by reading between the lines we can flush out the secrets of the Sadducees.
The events may have played out in the Temple courts rather than on 34th Street, but a miracle occurred all the same. With thousands of Jews becoming followers of Jesus in Judaism’s capital city, we’re told the high priests and all the Sadducees became jealous and ordered the arrest of the apostles.
In Acts 4.32 through 5.11 we get a glimpse into the culture of the early church. We’ve already shown that the economic situation of the early church was not socialist in its structure, but was rather based on grace and generous giving.
We last left Stephen about to give his defense in Acts chapter 7, but instead of a legal defense he gave a defense of his faith. It’s unclear if Stephen knew he had been trapped by the traditional Jewish leadership, either way you have to admire his priorities.
What could be so important as to interrupt our series on the Acts of the Apostles? Father’s Day which falls on this coming Sunday. Why is it so important? Because Dad’s need to be encouraged.
Today is the Jewish holiday Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost.
Yesterday we had some fun with Peter and John’s discussion with the temple leadership, but Peter hit upon something truly important and worthy of consideration.
Tomorrow the liturgical church celebrates Corpus Christi, a Christian feast celebrating Communion. Most protestant churches do not celebrate the event as it is a decidedly Catholic invention, and one that espouses a very different theology surrounding the Communion elements (bread and wine) than does the non-liturgical churches. Because of the theological element its worth understanding the holiday.
The Acts of the Apostles hits the ground running at the start and doesn’t let go for the first five chapters. From the ascension of Jesus to an angelic prison break with plenty of threats, arrests, healings and exorcisms in-between to keep the reader enthused every event and miracle seems bigger than the last. Until…
Following the instructive deaths of Ananias and Sapphira the apostles continued to showcase God’s power and authority.
In Acts chapter 3 Peter and John were having an amazing day. They had been to prayer twice already, at nine and noon, and now at three in the afternoon they were able to heal a lame man and tell all who were there about Jesus, the Messiah.
