Acts 7:54-8:3 | Imitating Jesusنموونە

The conversation is over. Better to kill than to listen anymore. The Sanhedrin drag him into the street, furious and gnashing their teeth. Picking up rocks, they stone him, with the crowd cheering on. Stephen is killed for preaching Jesus. Today he is known as the first Christian martyr.

Acts 6-7 is one long account of God working through Stephen, a man serving in the early church who was filled with the Spirit and wisdom. Like Jesus, he proclaimed repentance and the kingdom of God. Like Jesus, he performed signs and wonders. Like Jesus, he sought to serve rather than be served. Like Jesus, he taught how God’s plan all along pointed towards Jesus’s death, resurrection, and exaltation as king. Like Jesus, he is arrested and killed by those who hate him.

Like Jesus.

For the past three weeks we’ve tracked Stephen’s show-down with the Sanhedrin. Most of it is one long defense where he argues like Peter did, like Jesus did, that those who were supposed to know God best were in fact the ones responsible for killing him. This week, we see how it ends. Stephen will live like Jesus.

Today, familiarize yourself with what happens. Then look at some passages about Jesus that give a glimpse into Stephen as we meet him in Acts 6-7. Then ask yourself: How can I be like Jesus, too?