The Unhealthy and Unwealthy Gospel (3) (Acts 7:53-8:3)

Introduction

Stephen's trial draws to a conclusion. We are confronted with the hardship of living in a sin-cursed world. Stephen is doing everything right. He is faithful to the Lord. He speaks the truth. He boldly proclaims Christ. The apostles' faithfulness has been rewarded with thousands of converts. One would think that this is going to be the trend. Stephen tells us otherwise. Stephen is faithful, and his reward is rejection, being dragged outside the city, and killed.

We are moved to a question: What do we do with a gospel like this? We might second-guess and ask, should Stephen have backed off? Should he have softened his message? Should he have simply swept Christ under the carpet so that he could preserve his life?

This narrative forces us to question: Is Jesus really essential to the Christian life, or is he something we can make optional when following him becomes difficult? We see in Acts 7 that Christ is not optional. We need Christ because our own righteousness will never be enough. And what we discover in Stephen's death is that earthly suffering does not mean Christ has abandoned his people. In fact, Christ is standing in heaven. He is not taking a passive stance, but an active stance in advancing his gospel despite this setback.

The Contrasted Perspectives: Stephen and the Mob

The first thing we see is the contrast between Stephen and the crowd. Stephen has just laid out the history of God's covenant interaction with Israel. His summary is that God is faithful and his people have been unfaithful. The crowd is furious. They are shouting, grinding their teeth, covering their ears, and eventually rushing him as a group. Stephen has called them "uncircumcised in heart and ears." The crowd only confirms his indictment. They cover their ears, they refuse to listen, and they refuse to evaluate their own history. They are physically demonstrating fruits that prove Stephen's accusation. They have decided that they know the truth, they know their theology, they know their system, and they are not going to listen to anything that challenges it. We are reminded to be careful when we are so certain.

How do we know when to be certain and when to repent? The real issue is Christ. Stephen is not saying that Moses was unimportant or that God's covenant dealings with Israel were meaningless. He is showing that all of these things were pointing beyond themselves to Christ. The law reveals the holiness of God, and it exposes our inability to meet that holiness by our own efforts. The administration given through Moses points us toward the greater reality that comes in Jesus Christ. If we think we can stand before God on the basis of our own accomplishments, we will end up aligned with the crowd. We need Christ. Christ is not optional. We need to take his yoke upon us because there is no other way to life. He is the proper successor to Moses.

The ultimate contrast is that as the crowd accuses Stephen, he receives vindication. Luke tells us, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looks up and sees heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. The very Christ whom they rejected, the Christ whom they killed, is standing in glory. Stephen sees the risen and vindicated messiah advocating on his behalf.

A Contradictory Profession of Faith

This leads us to the second thing we see: Stephen's profession of faith stands in direct contradiction to the profession of the mob. Political wisdom might have told Stephen to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes silence is golden. They are already angry, and Stephen has every reason to know that saying more is not going to make things better. But Stephen is overwhelmed by the Spirit, and he says, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Stephen's testimony is very important. Stephen is identifying Jesus as the Son of Man, the Messiah, the one Daniel 7 points us toward. The very man whom they had rejected and killed is now standing in the glory of heaven. And notice that Christ is standing. Normally we think of Christ seated at the right hand of God (Psalm 110), enthroned in glory.