Day 1042: The martyr's sleep - Acts 7 vs 48 - 60

48-50 The Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’” 51-53 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55-56 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together (with one mind) at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. 58 And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59-60 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:48-60 English Standard Version.

We’re told that at the start of his trial, as the accusers gazed at Stephen, “all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:15) At the end of it, as his accusers began to rush upon him, Stephen cried out “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” So in God's providence, one of the earliest martyrs of the Church was granted to see what the true picture really is. He was given a glimpse of the glory of God, and Christ at His right hand, before he 'fell asleep'. And his spirit would soon enter that glorious place. What a glorious outcome for courageously speaking the truth!

The truth Stephen had spoken reached its conclusion in vs 48-53. A big part of their charge against him had been that he taught that Jesus would destroy the temple in Jerusalem. What was Stephen's response to that? (vs 48-50)

As great as the first temple which Solomon built had been, and as impressive as the rebuilt temple was in Jesus' day, that was not what God was looking for. The one who created heaven and earth doesn’t need a house that man tries to build for Him. Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Micah had told the people what God really wants. He said “God has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) But Micah's message had been rejected along with other prophets who had brought God's word, some who had been rejected even to the point of being killed (vs 51-53)

So it took courage for Stephen to turn the case against his accusers and say to them: “You have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” It turned them fiercely against him. But the Lord Jesus stood by him. And such was the peace in Stephen's heart that he was able to pray that the terrible crime committed that day would not be held against them. And so too will be the death of all who stand firm, and remain faithful to the Lord. Death at the hands of persecutors is but a falling asleep in this world, and rising up in the glorious presence of our Saviour God.

Acts is very much a book of beginnings. God did things in the early days of the Church which are for our encouragement. But it doesn't mean that we should expect the identical thing to happen to us. There have been many martyrs through the ages who didn’t see a vision of Christ before they fell asleep. But they will have entered the same glory. And who knows how many people who eventually came to follow Christ may have had the first seed of faith planted when they saw how bravely and full of peace Christians met a cruel death. We're told that one of the people who saw how Stephen died was a man named Saul. (vs 58) While we don't know what impact Stephen's death had on him at the time, we do know that Saul was later wonderfully saved.