STEPHEN
The Church’s First “Deacons”
The Church is growing rapidly.
“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:7 ESV
It’s very likely that the “priests” mentioned here are not the chief priests who have been arresting and threatening the apostles, but the exiled Zadok priests from the community known as Qumran.
🤓 The guys who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
The very ones.
Their scroll 11Q13, known as “The Melchizedek Scroll” shows that they had tremendous insight to the OT prophets and a much better idea of what the Messiah would be and do than just about anyone else. When they heard the Gospel from the eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus, I don’t think it was a big step for them to be converted.
So… that’s a few more hundreds or even thousands of people added to the 8000+ already counted. The Church is getting big and complex.
Let’s assume that the 12 Apostles, plus the 70 are leading evenly sized groups of these new believers. There would be 82 congregations of around 112-115 to teach. That’s a conservative estimate. Now, some of these new believers were just visitors in town and have gone back to their home provinces. But still, there are a LOT of Christians now.
We just read this in chapter 4:
“There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
Acts 4:34-35 ESV
The primary recipients of the church’s giving were widows and orphans. But, without email lists, spreadsheets, and phones, trying to get food and resources to several dozens or perhaps a few hundred poor widows was a little…shall we say… disorganized.
The “Hellenists” were the Greek-speaking Jews, also likely leaning more “liberal” in their notions. The “Hebrews” were the Aramaic-speaking Jews who were likely more “conservative.” The Greek-speaking widows were somehow being overlooked. It’s a problem. And it needing a meeting.
“And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.”
Acts 6:2 ESV
The apostles and the larger group of disciples (probably the 70), had been commissioned by Jesus to:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
And they understood the need to “stay in their lane.” If they spend all their time on a food-distribution program, who is going to disciple all these new believers?
Enter: The Deacons.
The church selects 7 capable men to sort out this mess and see to the practical resource-needs of the fellowship.
The word “deacon” isn’t a title. It’s not really even an English word. It’s a transliteration of the Greek word used in Acts 6:2 for “serve.”
And that’s what these 7 men were commissioned to do: to be attendants. To serve.
It was never intended to be a position of power. It’s a role of practicality.
And this is where we meet Stephen.
“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”
Acts 6:8 ESV
My how things have changed! If a church today had a man “full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs,” he’d be an in-demand conference speaker, invited to appear on tv and trendy podcasts, and offered a lucrative book deal.
Back then, this was the guy delivering Meals on Wheels.
Stephen was preaching the Gospel (probably in a synagogue) to a group of Jews descended from freed slaves. Here’s their backstory…
In 63 BC, Pompey the Great conquered Jerusalem. He took a bunch of the citizens to Rome as slaves. Other slaves were taken from Judea in other conflicts in 40-37BC.
But, the Romans found them to be useless slaves since they refused to work on Saturdays. So they freed all of them. Some of them continued to live in Rome. It’s why there were Jews in Rome and Paul wrote to them in the letter we call Romans. Some of them moved into Asia Minor; what we now call Türkiye. They settled down and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren were known as the “synagogue of free men.”
Here’s what the ancient historian Philo wrote about them in a document called: On the Embassy to Gaius (Legatio ad Gaium).
“And they were mostly Roman citizens, having been emancipated; for, having been brought as captives into Italy, they were manumitted [freed] by those who had bought them for slaves, without ever having been compelled to alter any of their hereditary or national observances. Therefore, he [Caesar] knew that they had synagogues, and that they were in the habit of visiting them, and most especially on the sacred sabbath days, when they publicly cultivate their national philosophy. He knew also that they were in the habit of contributing sacred sums of money from their first fruits and sending them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to conduct the sacrifices. But he never removed them from Rome, nor did he ever deprive them of their rights as Roman citizens, because he had a regard for Judaea, nor did he never meditate any new steps of innovation or rigour with respect to their synagogues, nor did he forbid their assembling for the interpretation of the law, nor did he make any opposition to their offerings of first fruits; but he behaved with such piety towards our countrymen, and with respect to all our customs…”
🤔 Sounds like maybe Caesar was worried he might make God angry- by enslaving His chosen people. So he let them go?
Well, the release happened in stages under both Julius Caesar (in 44BC) and Caesar Augustus (ruled 27BC – 14AD).
🤓 Isn’t Caesar Augustus the one who ordered the census when Jesus was born?
Yup. Good job.
It was a group of the descendants of these ex-slaves that got into a debate with Stephen. It may have been during one of the Jewish festivals because there were people from all over in Jerusalem again.
Stephen was telling them that Jesus was the promised Messiah. They said “No way.” But they couldn’t win the debate about Jesus. Stephen had eye-witness testimony to the miracles, claims, and resurrection of Jesus. All they had was their preconceived ideas.
There’s an old saying among lawyers:
“If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table.”
Stephen had the facts and the Law and the Prophets on his side of the debate. His Jewish opponents had neither so they pounded the table…and also rustled up some false witnesses.
Stephen Addresses the Council
Stephen is hauled before the same Council that condemned Jesus and he is in a similar situation with false witnesses and charges.
But where Jesus was silent, Stephen takes what he knows may be his only opportunity to preach the Gospel to these men. And he starts his lesson all the way back with Abraham and reviews Israel’s history all the way up through the persecuted prophets. Stephen is not stalling for time. He’s proving that he is a faithful Israelite, and he knows his Bible. He’s also going somewhere with this story. And the whole Counsel is listening with rapt attention.
😏 I bet it helped that his face was glowing.
☝️🤓 Just like Moses!
Let’s outline Stephen’s address.
- Abraham was called and obeyed but did not receive the inheritance.
- Joseph was sold into slavery but God was with him.
- Famine came to Egypt but the patriarchs went there and were saved by Joseph.
- God had promised to free them from slavery in Egypt but it looked impossible.
- Moses attempted to free his people in his own strength. He was exiled.
- Moses was sent by God and led the people out of slavery.
- Moses received the Law and God promised to send a future prophet like Moses from among the people.
- But the Jewish people rejected Moses, embraced idolatry, and so God punished them.
- God had dwelt among them; first in the Tabernacle, then the temple of Solomon (and everyone knows what happened to that temple and WHY).
- YOU are just like your ancestors. God has made Himself known to you, dwelt among you, kept His promises to you, and you reject Him AND persecute those who speak on His behalf.
Stephen names 3 important men in their history: Abraham, Moses, and David.. God made a covenant with each of them. Based on the trajectory of his address, Stephen’s next stop would’ve likely been Jesus and the New Covenant. The pattern is:
- God makes a covenant with them
- They veer off
😐 People don’t like to have their faults pointed out.
Well, unless they’re at the doctor and they need a life-saving procedure. Then they want the doc to identify everything that is wrong with them. But the Counsel doesn’t see the Gospel as life-saving. It’s only a threat to their power and prestige.
Remember how we noted at the Ascension that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father?
What does Stephen see when he is given a glimpse into heaven?
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!””
Acts of the Apostles 7:55-56 NLT
I’ve heard it speculated that perhaps Jesus stood up to receive His servant Stephen.
That declaration of Stephen’s was the last straw. He was saying that a human was sharing God’s throne! “The Son of Man” is the title of the Divine figure in Daniel 7:13. The Counsel knew this. Stephen is equating the divine man from Daniel 7:13 with Jesus. And the Counsel has heard all they’re going to hear.
Tired of pounding the table, they decide to pound Stephen.
Most Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem are told that Stephen was stoned outside the Lion’s Gate (also called “Saint Stephen’s Gate”), but that tradition came later. The earliest histories point to a location called The Damascus Gate.
The gate we see today was built in 1537 by Suleiman the Magnificent, but it was in the same location as what was called “The Fish Gate” in the first century.
The stoning of Stephen – the first martyr of the Church – was the beginning of a wave of persecution. We’ll pick up with that in the next chapter.
