A Year in Luke/ActsSample

Stephen is noted to be a man who was full of grace, power, and wisdom through the Spirit. We already see the bridge Hellenists can be to other cultures because he is said to have had discussions with people from as far as Cyrene, Alexandria, Cicilia, and Asia. These people do not like the way Stephen is talking, and they stir up trouble for him. Notice how the false accusations they bring against him are similar to how false witnesses come before the Council at Jesus’ trial and misconstrue his claims about destroying the temple (Matthew 26:61). Stephen’s accusers also say that he has been saying that Jesus is going to destroy the temple and change its customs. Both of these accusations draw upon a big part of the narrative Luke has crafted up until this point.

Destroying the temple: We saw throughout Luke’s gospel that Jesus warned the consequences of not accepting his message would be the destruction of the temple and sacking of Jerusalem. It is not that Jesus is going to destroy the temple himself, as Stephen’s accusers suggest, but the consequences of failing to accept his message and implementing it will result in Israel fighting for their own kingdom and Rome, another kingdom, coming and sacking the city and destroying the temple.

Changing customs: The second accusation about changing customs refers back to the traditionalism we looked at earlier. The lack of flexibility was causing oppression and marginalization in the religious system. The accusers take elements of Stephen’s points and twist them to enrage the audience as much as possible. We know what the result will be for Stephen, which we will discuss next week…