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Acts 7:57–60
“As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (vv. 59–60).
Under the terms of occupation by the Roman Empire, the Jewish authorities in Judea were not allowed to carry out capital punishment. That is why they went to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to have Jesus crucified (see Luke 22:66–23:25). Yet that does not mean that they never took execution into their own hands. At certain points, when they were sufficiently enraged, they could kill an accused person, taking the risk of Roman reprisal for doing so.
As we see in Acts 7:57–60, the Jews did not follow the proper protocol of taking Stephen to the Romans for execution after interrogating him. His claim to see the glory of God and his preaching of Jesus, who said that the temple would fall (Acts 6:13–15; 7:54–56), were considered so utterly blasphemous that they could not wait for the Roman authorities to act for “justice” to be done. Rushing forward, they took up stones and began casting them at Stephen, stopping up their ears as they did so (7:57–58). This occurred outside Jerusalem, in keeping with the Mosaic law’s instruction for how to deal with blasphemers (Lev. 24:10–16). Yet while this was all done in the name of justice and for the purpose of honoring God, we know full well that justice was not done and that God was not actually honored. In the first place, Stephen had committed no blasphemy, but the Jewish leaders did (Acts 7:1–53). Second, while members of the Sanhedrin did bring Stephen before them for a trial of sorts, Stephen did not have the benefit of full legal proceedings. His stoning was really an act of mob justice, which is no justice at all.
As Stephen felt the rocks pelting him, he prayed for the Lord to receive his spirit (v. 59). John Calvin points out that Stephen’s prayer assumes that the human soul or spirit does not cease to exist at death: “This place does plainly testify that the soul of man is no vain blast which vanisheth away, as some frantic fellows imagine dotingly, but that it is an essential spirit which lives after this life.” Additionally, Stephen asked for the Lord not to hold the sin of his murderers against them. He desired for God to pardon those who took part in his execution. We know that our Father did so for at least one person. Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that the men casting the stones threw off their clothing and put it at the feet of Saul (v. 58). This was Saul of Tarsus, who would soon receive the grace of salvation from Jesus Himself even though he approved of Stephen’s death (8:1; see 9:1–19).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The Bible tells us to love our enemies, which is one of the most difficult commands in Scripture to fulfill. In Acts 7:57–60, Stephen gives us an example of what a practical act of love for enemies looks like. We too can pray that God would not hold the sins of our enemies against them, that He would convert them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray regularly for our enemies.
For further study
- 1 Kings 21
- Psalm 31:5
- Proverbs 25:21–22
- Luke 23:34
The bible in a year
- Joshua 23–24
- Luke 6:27–49