Stephen's speech caused a revolution in the Jews' attitude toward the disciples of Jesus, and his martyrdom began the first persecution of the Christians.
Luke recorded the Sanhedrin's response to Stephen's message to document Jesus' continued rejection by Israel's leaders. He did so to explain why the gospel spread as it did and why the Jews responded to it as they did following this event.
7:54 "Cut to the quick"is a figure of speech that describes being painfully wounded. Stephen's words convicted and offended the members of the Sanhedrin. They retaliated fiercely. Gnashing (grinding) the teeth pictures brutal antagonism.
"The possibilities are that what took place was a spontaneous act of mob violence or that Stephen was legally executed by the Sanhedrin, either because there was some kind of special permission from the Romans or because there was no Roman governor at the time and advantage was taken of the interregnum. The first of these possibilities is the more likely."339
7:55 Fully controlled by the Holy Spirit (cf. 6:3, 5, 8, 15) Stephen received a vision of Jesus standing beside God in all His glory. This vision of God's throne room in heaven is similar to visions that Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John saw.
The unusual fact that Stephen saw Him standing rather than seated, as the biblical writers elsewhere describe Him (e.g., Ps. 110:1), may imply several things. It may imply His activity as prophet and mediator standing between God and man, and as a witness since He was witnessing through His witnesses on earth.
"Stephen has been confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing His servant before God. The proper posture for a witness is the standing posture. Stephen, condemned by an earthly court, appeals for vindication to a heavenly court, and his vindicator in that supreme court is Jesus, who stands at God's right hand as Stephen's advocate, his paraclete.' When we are faced with words so wealthy in association as these words of Stephen, it is unwise to suppose that any single interpretation exhausts their significance. All the meaning that had attached to Ps. 110:1 and Dan. 7:13f. is present here, including especially the meaning that springs from their combination on the lips of Jesus when He appeared before the Sanhedrin; but the replacement of sitting' by standing' probably makes its own contribution to the total meaning of the words in this context--a contribution distinctively appropriate to Stephen's present role as martyr-witness."340
"Standing"may also imply Jesus' welcome of Stephen into His presence as the first Christian martyr.
"Here Jesus, functioning as Judge, welcomed Stephen into heaven, showing that despite earthly rejection, Stephen was honored in heaven."341
Psalm 110:1 describes Messiah as at God's right hand, where Stephen saw Jesus. Jesus' position in relation to God suggests His acceptance by Him, His authority under God, and His access to God.
7:56 Stephen announced his vision and described Jesus as the "Son of Man"(cf. Rev. 1:13; 14:14). This was a title of the Messiah that implied the universal aspect of his rule that Daniel used (Dan. 7:13-14). Jesus alone used this title of Himself in the Gospels. He had used it of Himself when He stood before the Sanhedrin not many weeks earlier (Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69). Stephen was virtually saying that his vision confirmed Jesus' claim to be the Son of Man.
Access to God is through Jesus Christ, not through temple ritual as the Jews taught (1 Tim. 2:5).
7:57-58 Stephen's declaration amounted to blasphemy to the Sanhedrin. They knew that when he said "Son of Man"he meant "Jesus."The Sanhedrin members therefore cried out in agony of soul, covered their ears so they would hear no more, and seized Stephen to prevent him from saying more or escaping. Stoning was the penalty for blasphemy in Israel (Lev. 24:16; Deut. 17:7), and the Sanhedrin members went right to it.
In the three trials before the Sanhedrin that Luke recorded thus far, the first ended with a warning (4:17, 21), the second with flogging (5:40), and the third with stoning (7:58-60). The Sanhedrin now abandoned Gamaliel's former moderating advice (5:35-39). It did not have the authority to execute someone without Roman sanction, and Jewish law forbade executing a person on the same day as his trial.342However since witnesses were present to cast the first stones, as the Mosaic Law prescribed, Stephen's death seems not to have been the result of mob violence but official action. Probably it was mob violence precipitated and controlled by the Sanhedrin along the lines of Jesus' execution.
"The message of Stephen, it seems, served as a kind of catalyst to unite Sadducees, Pharisees, and the common people against the early Christians."343
Saul of Tarsus was there and cooperated with the authorities by holding their cloaks while they carried out their wicked business (cf. 8:1; 22:20). He was then a "young man"(Gr. neanias, cf. 20:9; 23:17-18, 22), but we do not know his exact age. Since he died about 68 A.D. and since Stephen probably died about 34 A.D., perhaps Saul was in his mid-thirties. Jesus and Paul appear to have been roughly contemporaries. This verse, of course, does not imply that Saul was a member of the Sanhedrin.344
7:59-60 Stephen died as Jesus did, with prayers being his last words (cf. Luke 23:34, 46; cf. 2 Chron. 24:22). However, Stephen prayed to Jesus whereas Jesus prayed to His Father. Luke probably wanted his readers to connect the two executions, but they were not exactly the same.345Stephen's body, not his soul, fell asleep to await resurrection (cf. 13:36; John 11:11; 1 Thess. 4:13, 15; et al.).
"For Stephen the whole dreadful turmoil finished in a strange peace. He fell asleep. To Stephen there came the peace which comes to the man who has done the right thing even if the right thing kills him."346
"As Paul is to become Luke's hero, in that he more than any other single man was instrumental in spreading the Gospel throughout the Gentile world, so Stephen here receives honourable recognition as the man who first saw the wider implications of the Church's faith and laid the foundations on which the mission to the Gentiles was built."347
8:1a Saul's active approval of Stephen's execution reveals his commitment to the extermination of Jesus' disciples, which he proceeded to implement zealously. This verse provides a transition to what follows later concerning Saul's conversion and subsequent ministry.
