In a moment of profound emotion, when our Lord contemplated the near
approach of the last tragedy in his life, he said: "Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die
it bringeth forth much fruit."
Accordingly, it was but little more than a month after the scenes of
Calvary before Jerusalem was filled with a harvest of men and women
who were born into the Christ-life, and were living and acting in
his spirit.
At the feast of Pentecost Jerusalem was full of strangers, devout
Jews from every nation under heaven, and three thousand in one day
bowed at the feet of the Jesus whom they had crucified. The chief
priests were enraged and terrified, for everywhere the Apostles of
this crucified Jesus, inspired with a supernatural courage, were
working miracles and preaching with an energy even more overcoming
than that of the Master. Jesus had been among them but as one man;
he had come back as twelve men, every one of whom was full of him,
working his works and preaching him with overwhelming power.
It is most impressive to read in the Book of Acts how Peter and
John were called before Annas and Caiaphas--the very tribunal before
which Jesus so lately stood, the tribunal before which Peter denied
him and John stood in trembling silence. Now these same men face
high priests and elders with heads erect and flashing eyes, and
say:--
"If we be this day examined of the good deed done to the
impotent man, be it known unto you that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from
the dead, doth this man stand before you whole. This is the
stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner; neither is there salvation in any other."
We can imagine the dismay of the Sanhedrim when such men and such
sermons met them at every corner. The record says that, perceiving
the boldness of Peter and John, and knowing that they were unlearned
men, they marveled, and took knowledge of them that they had been
with Jesus!
It is not likely that the high priest had forgotten the recent
time when Jesus stood bound before him. Evidently even then his
manner had inspired a secret misgiving awe; and here were these
disciples now looking and speaking just like him, with the same
certainty, the same majesty. It was Jesus of Nazareth returning in
his followers. It was a terror to them all. But we are told the
word of God grew and prevailed, the converts increased in crowds
daily, "a great company of the priests were obedient" to the word.
Of course persecution raged. To confess Christ was to lose place,
patronage, and daily bread. The Christians, in their new joy, met
this by throwing all their worldly possessions into a common stock
and apportioning support to each.
There were rich men like Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and many
others, and we read of men who sold all they had and laid the money
at the Apostles' feet. Thus those who daily were thrown out of
employment for Christ's sake were supported and relieved. A great
financial and administrative business grew up out of this state
of things, and we are told that there arose a murmuring among
the foreign-born Jews that their widows were neglected in the
apportionment of aid.
The Jews have been in all ages a trading nation. Palestine was a
little country situated in the very heart of the ancient civilized
world. It was a centre of emigration. Colonies of Jews, bearing
their religion, their synagogue, their national zeal, had foothold
and maintained Jewish worship in almost every leading city of Greece
and Rome. They were called, according to their country, Greeks or
Romans, while as to religion and race they were Jews.
It appears that the proportion of Greek-born Jews among the converts
was so great as to warrant the appointment of seven deacons, all
of whom bear names which show their Grecian origin. Stephen was
evidently a noted man among them. He is described as full of faith
and the Holy Ghost. For aught we know, Stephen may have been one
of those Greeks who, during the last week of Christ's life in
Jerusalem, came to his disciples, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus."
He may have been among the first-fruits of that harvest which Christ
then foresaw when he said, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men
unto me." He seems to have been of a nature peculiarly receptive
and lovely--a beautiful medium through whom the Christ-spirit could
reveal itself. If he had been in Jerusalem at the time of Christ's
death, and witnessed the scenes of Calvary, we may well believe what
a fervor was enkindled in his soul, and with what zeal he devoted
himself to him. His activity was not confined to the temporal
ministrations which were committed to him. He is described as "full
of faith and power, and doing great miracles." He maintained the
cause of Jesus in word as well as deed. Certain leaders in a Jewish
synagogue, of Greek extraction like himself, who still clung to
Jewish prejudices, disputed with him, and we are told they were not
able to resist the wisdom and power with which he spoke. A tumult
was stirred up, and Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrim, and
stood in the place where his Master had stood before him. Again,
as before, it was the Jewish national pride and bitterness that
were arrayed against him. Stephen had shown the glories of that
new spiritual kingdom which Christ was bringing in, where there
should be neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free,
but Christ should be all in all. So the accusation was formulated
against him:--
"We have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this
place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto
us."
The High Priest probably felt that now he had got a leading
Christian at advantage. He would meet now and expose this sect that
threatened to overthrow their country and destroy their venerable
religion. He said to Stephen, with a semblance of moderation and
justice, "Are these things so?"
There was a pause, in which Stephen seems to have been so filled by
the vision of the glory and beauty of the new life which was opening
before the world, that he could not speak. It is said:--
"And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."
Then began that noble speech, evidently the speech of a Greek-born
Jew, who had studied the Hebrew history from a different standpoint
from the Rabbins. It is clear from the fragment of this address
that it was designed to show, even by their past history, that
God's dealings with his people had been irrespective of the temple
of Jerusalem and the worship there. He dwelt on God's calling of
Abraham, his sojourn in Canaan before he possessed it; of God's
suffering the chosen race to sojourn in Egypt; of Moses, born and
nurtured in a Gentile court, and educated in the wisdom of the
Egyptians. This man, who lived to the age of forty years as an
Egyptian prince, begins to offer himself as a guide and teacher to
his oppressed people, but they reject his mission with scorn. Then
comes the scene of the appearance of Jehovah for their rescue and
the appointment of Moses to accomplish their deliverance, and he
drives home the parallel between Moses and the rejected Jesus.
This Moses, whom they refused, saying, "Who made thee a ruler and a
judge?" the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer. "This
is that Moses who said, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
unto you like unto me: him shall ye hear." He then shows how the
Jewish nation disobeyed Moses and God, and turned back to the golden
calf of Egypt. He traces their history till the time of the building
of the temple, but adds that "the Most High dwelleth not in temples
made with hands, as saith the prophet: Heaven is my throne and earth
is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord. Hath
not my hand made all these things?" We may imagine the fervor, the
energy of this brief history, the tone, the spirit, the flashing eye
that gave point to every incident. It was perfectly evident what he
was coming to, what use he was going to make of this recital--that
the Jews were not God's favorites _per se_; that they were and
always had been an ungrateful, rebellious people; that God had
chosen them, in spite of their sins, to be the unworthy guardians
and receivers of a great mission for the whole world; that the
temple was not a necessity, that it came late in their history, and
that God himself had declared his superiority to it. It was easy to
see that he was coming round to the mission of Jesus, the prophet
whom Moses had predicted, and whom they had rejected as they did
Moses. But there was evidently a tumult rising, and Stephen saw that
he was about to be interrupted, and therefore, suddenly, leaving the
narrative unfinished, he breaks forth:--
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Ghost--as your fathers did so do ye.
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? They
slew them which prophesied the coming of that Just One of whom
ye have been the betrayers and murderers; who have received the
law by the dispensation of angels and have not kept it."
These words were as coals dropping upon naphtha. They were cut to
the heart; they gnashed on him with their teeth; they raved round
him as wild beasts who collect themselves for a deadly spring.
"But he, full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into
heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right
hand of God."
There was something in his rapt appearance, his pale, upturned face
and eager eyes, that caused a moment's silence.