The Face Of An Angel: Stephen Is Arrested

The Face of an Angel: Stephen is Arrested

Acts 6:8–15 NKJV

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

We continue with our study on the Book of Acts. We have been following several themes which are pr;ominent. The first them comes in the very first verse of the book with the words “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” (Acts 1:1). The mission of the church is to continue the ministry started by Jesus. Jesus set the example of how we should walk. We can cite several examples: First of all, we read in John 13:15-17

John 13:15–17 NKJV

For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

This is reinforced in John 15:20:

John 15:20 NKJV

Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Also, we read in Matthew 10:24-25

Matthew 10:24–25 NKJV

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

In this last text, Jesus is referring to the disciples of Satan. But if this is true of the disciples of Beelzebub, how much more is this to be true for of the disciples of Jesus to be like Jesus. The important lesson of discipleship is for the disciple to be like his master. In this behooves the church to reflect the character of her Lord.

Luke shows us how Jesus modelled the behavior of someone who is led by the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus as the second person in the Godhead could have acted from His own will and done miracles and ministered in His own powered, He was characterized as having been full of the Holy Spirit and led, sometimes driven, by the same Spirit. The Church does not have the intrinsic power to do mighty miracles. Rather, any works the church does must be enabled and authored by the Holy Spirit. So, Jesus, in His earthly ministry, depended upon the same Holy Spirit which is in His church.

We see a similarity between the baptism of Jesus and that of the church in the following areas. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, the Spirit descended like a dove and rested upon Him. The voice of the Father was clearly heard. Finally, the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to begin His public ministry. His baptism separated a life of preparation from that of public proclamation. In the case of the Church at Pentecost, the Apostles were to tarry until they received power from on high. Jesus had spent three years preparing them for ministry. At Pentecost, the Spirit would drive them into public ministry. On that day, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church and rested upon the believers, this time with the visual appearance of tongues of fire rather than a dove.

Before Jesus ascended, He told them Apostles that they would be His witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then Judaea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). The Greek word for “witness” is “martyr.” The word originally was a technical term for giving testimony in court. But so many Christians were slaughtered that the word took on its modern meaning “to die for a cause.” It is important for us to realize that Jesus modelled this in His own ministry. His first ministry occurred among the Jews. But Jesus also went later to meet the Syro-Phoenician woman near Sidon. He went to Caesarea Philippi which was quite Pagan. He went to the Gadarenes to heal the demoniac who had a legion of devils and came from the ten Gentile cities (Decapolis) on the east of the Sea of Galilee. He fed 4,000 from the Gentile areas of Galilee. We should see that “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek begins with Jesus and not Paul. Even in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 we read that Jesus commanded the Apostles to make disciples from all nations and not just Israel. What the Book of Acts reveals is how this plan was carried out. It starts in Jerusalem and ends in Rome.