Stephen

AI summary: Stephen matters because the cross references present him as a pivotal witness in the early church whose ministry joins wisdom, signs, bold preaching, and costly faithfulness. His speech retells Israel's history in a way that exposes resistance to God's messengers, and his death becomes a turning point that scatters believers outward with the gospel. Even Saul stands nearby, linking Stephen's martyrdom to later mission. Taken together, the material presents Stephen as the church's first martyr and a decisive transitional figure in the spread of the gospel.¹

One of the seven deacons, who became a preacher of the gospel. He was the first Christian martyr. His personal character and history are recorded in Acts 6. “He fell asleep” with a prayer for his persecutors on his lips (7:60). Devout men carried him to his grave (8:2). It was at the feet of the young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, that those who stoned him laid their clothes (comp. Deut. 17:5-7) before they began their cruel work. The scene which Saul then witnessed and the words he heard appear to have made a deep and lasting impression on his mind (Acts 22:19, 20). The speech of Stephen before the Jewish ruler is the first apology for the universalism of the gospel as a message to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. It is the longest speech contained in the Acts, a place of prominence being given to it as a defence. ³