Zoom Sunday School Classes – 24 March 2024 at 09:00 AM EST

Meeting ID: 848-9423-0612
Pass Code: 669872
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894230612?pwd=Zk1ESitzbGZwTlJyV21UZXY5aTVPZz09

Stephen's Arrest and Speech
Bible Background: ACTS 6
Printed Text: ACTS 6:7-15
Devotional Reading: Psalm 34:1-8
 

Daily Bible Readings

Monday: Blessings of Walking in God’s Way – Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Tuesday: Let Your Life Match Your Words – Titus 2:1-8
Wednesday: Fear God and Gain Knowledge – Proverbs 1:1-9
Thursday: Refrain From Defiling the Church – 2 Corinthians 5:1-11
Friday: Vessels Prepared for Every Good Work – 2 Timothy 2:8-21
Saturday:  The Ministry of Caring for Others – Acts 6:1-6
Sunday: A Spirit Empowered Witness – Acts 6:7-15

KEEP IN MIND:

"Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.  But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. " (Acts 6:9-10. VRSV). 

LESSON AIM:

SEEK the power and wisdom of the Spirit in our efforts to speak truth.

FEEL the boldness and contentment he felt despite persecution; and

DETERMINE to remain loyal to Christ despite opposition and persecution that we may face because of our faith. 

BACKGROUND:

At the beginning of Acts 6, the early Christians were having problems. The Aramaic speaking Jews were probably attending the big Temple in Jerusalem.  But the early Jewish Christians, who spoke Greek, were attending the Synagogue of the Freedmen.  The Jews had the wonderful custom of collecting donations for the poor among them; thus, the early Christians followed this custom and gave to needy widows.  (Widows in those days had few ways to raise money to feed themselves, much less their children if they had any.)

The apostles were among the Aramaic Jews and were the early Christian leaders.  They were in charge of the distribution of gifts to the widows, yet they were forgetting the Greek-speaking Christian widows.  This could have been because of snobbery, because of language differences or because they just overlooked the Greek-speaking poor.

The godly solution of the apostles was to appoint Greek-speaking Jewish Christians to take charge of distributing food and money to the widows and other poor among them.  The Greek-speaking Christians would know who was in need.  The seven men chosen for this task were also chosen for their outstanding spirituality.  Among them were Philip and Stephen, who is the focus of today's lesson. 

LESSON COMMENTARY: 

The Preaching of Stephen (Acts 6:7-10, NRSV) 

7The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
8Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.
10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

The story of Stephen reminds us that all around the world, the Gospel is nourished with martyrs.  Stephen's life serves as a continual challenge to Christians. Would you be willing to die for your belief?

It is curious that both Jesus and Stephen were condemned to death under the false charge of blasphemy. This occurred because Jesus claimed the prerogatives that belong to God alone and Stephen accused the unbelieving Jews of murdering the long-awaited Messiah.

Stephen did much more than hand out gifts to the needy. Until this time, Scripture had only mentioned the apostles performing miracles, but now we see Stephen doing great wonders. (We'11 read later of the miracles that Philip performed). Scripture tells us the reason for Stephen's ability to perform miracles is that he is full of grace and power.  We would expect to hear about the power in conjunction with miracles, but maybe we are surprised by the accompaniment of grace. Grace is always an unmerited gift of God. Therefore, we see that God working through Stephen, not because Stephen is so wonderful, but because God is wonderful and empowered him to do these amazing things.

At this time, all Christians were converted Jews and all attended synagogues. The Christian Jews were a tiny minority among the other Jews. The Jews whose primary language was Greek attended the Synagogue of the Freedmen. As Stephen, who attended this synagogue, performed miracles in the name of Jesus, other Jewish members who did not follow Christ opposed. They debated with Stephen, but their arguments did not stand up against him for two reasons. First of all, the Holy Spirit was enabling him to use great wisdom. Secondly, the things that Stephen said concerning Jesus Christ were true. 

Opposition to Stephen (Acts 6:11-14) 

11Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God."
12They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council.
13They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law;
14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us."

Those who opposed Stephen thought they were defending things that good Jews believed, but they were probably jealous of him as well. Obviously, Stephen garnered a lot of attention from the miracles he performed and his brilliant exposition of the true meaning of Old Testament Scriptures.

Opposition spread from the Synagogue of the Freemen to the great temple in Jerusalem and to the influential Jews who had also opposed Jesus. As a result, they seized Stephen and brought him before the great Jewish religious council, the Sanhedrin. This was the same religious council that put Jesus on trial. As they had with Jesus, they also brought false witnesses against Stephen and used some of the same arguments.

They accused Stephen of speaking against the Temple in Jerusalem. They said the Jesus he preached about had threatened to destroy the Temple. In John 2: 19, Jesus said that if they destroyed "this temple," meaning His body, He would raise it again in three days. We know that they were twisting the words of both Jesus and Stephen without really trying to understand the message.

In addition, they accused both Stephen and Jesus of trying to destroy the Old Testament Law, again twisting their words. Jesus said He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). And because they were accusing Stephen of speaking about the Temple and the Law, they were in essence accusing him of speaking against God. 

Stephen's Effect on the Sanhedrin (Acts 6:15, NRSV) 

15And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

When Stephen's accusers finished what they had to say, they noticed his face took on an angelic glow like Moses’ face after he had been in the presence of God (Exodus 34:29-30).  Psalm 34:5 (NIV) says, "Those who look to him are radiant; their faces ...."  We are sure this does not mean he resembled the childlike pictures of angels we often see portrayed nor is it likely that he looked like some type of avenging angel.  But because we have never looked into the face of an angel, we can only imagine a face that reflected the holiness of God Himself. 

DISCUSS THE MEANING:

1.    After studying the stories of Philip and Stephen, do you believe that the responsibilities of a deacon begin and end with the business of the local church?  Do deacons have any responsibilities to the community they serve and to unbelievers?

2.    Do you believe that many American Christians would be willing to sacrifice their lives for their faith? Some believe that a little persecution would actually strengthen the American church. Do you agree?

3.    How much are you personally willing to sacrifice to see the message of the Gospel spread? 

LESSON IN SOCIETY:

In the days of Stephen, Jewish society was very religious.  Christians retained some of the good things from the religious Jews, such as collecting contributions for the poor, and thus the Christians made regular gifts to the widows, the most vulnerable in their society.  Unlike the context of Stephen's ministry, our society today is continuing to become increasingly secular.  But even though the people of Stephen's day were very religious, they were extremely hostile to the Good News of Jesus Christ.  In our society, people are seemingly becoming more hostile to the Jesus of the Bible.  What are some of the things that evoke hostility to the Christian message today?  How do these things compare to the type of hostility in Stephen's day?  What are some ways we can reverse this trend?  Stephen, the other deacons, and the apostles demonstrated the love of Christ in the things they did for the poor.  How can similar programs help prepare the way for our Christian witness?

Finally, the book of Acts is an unfinished book.  Its pages are still being written today.  There will be others who are called to lay down their lives for Jesus’ sake.  Stephen provides us with a godly example. 

NEXT WEEK’S LESSON: 31 March 2024

The Resurrection: Key to Faith
Mark 16:1-8
Devotional Reading: Exodus 14:10-14, 21-23, 26-31
Background Scripture: Mark 16
(Rev Ralph Johnson Teaching)

Sources: 

Achtemeier, Paul J. Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985.

Brown, Raymond E., S. S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S. J.; Roland E. Murphy, O Carm. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.

Dummelow, J. R., M.A. Rev. The One Volume Bible Commentary. New York: The Macmillan Company Publishers, 1961.

Gaebelein, Frank E., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Volume 9: John - Acts, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishers, 1982.

James Orr, M.A., D.D., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition, Parsons Technology, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1998.

Keck, Leander E., The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Volume IX: Acts, Introduction to Epistolary Literature, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, New York: Abingdon Press, 2015.

Marshall, I. Howard. Acts. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids, Mich.: InterVarsity Press, 1980.

Morris, William, ed., Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981.

Pohill, John B., New American Commentary: Acts, An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, Volume 26. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Hrsg.): The Pulpit Commentary: Acts of the Apostles Vol. I. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004

Strong, James, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, Electronic Edition STEP Files, QuickVerse, a division of Findex.com, Inc., Omaha Nebraska. 2003.

Vine, W.E. Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Edited by Merrill F. Unger and William White Jr. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996.