Freed by the circumstances of his birth and education from mere local and national prejudices, he appears to have spoken strongly of the fulfilment of the Mosaic ordinances[720] by the Founder of the Christian Church, and to have proclaimed that a time was at hand when, in the words of the Holy One to the woman of Samaria[721], men should worship the Father in spirit and in truth, not in the Temple only, or in Jerusalem only, but everywhere throughout the world. This teaching roused a furious opposition, and unable to oppose the eloquent Hellenist by fair means, those whom he addressed had recourse to artifice. Having privily suborned[722] men, who affirmed that they had heard him utter blasphemous words against the Temple and the Law; that they had heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the national sanctuary and change the rites which Moses had ordained; they succeeded in stirring up the people, as also the ruling powers of the nation (Acts vi. 12). Accordingly an assembly of the Sanhedrin was convened, Stephen, who had in the meanwhile been apprehended, was placed before them, and the charges formally preferred against him.
As he stood in the midst of the council-hall, the members of the Council looked steadfastly upon him and observed his face as it had been the face of an angel (Acts vi. 15) lighted up with supernatural radiance and serenity. At length, as in the case of the trial of his Lord[723], the high-priest enquired what he had to say respecting the accusations brought against him, and Stephen commenced his reply, “the framework of which was cast in a summary of the history of the Jewish Church[724],” and treated of all the great epochs of the national existence,—from Abraham to Joseph,—from Joseph to Moses,—from Moses to David and Solomon[725]. Keeping in mind the charges, of which he was accused, he shewed that the Divine blessing had not been confined to the Jews solely as inhabitants of the sacred land of Palestine, or as partakers in the Temple-worship.
The original cradle of their faith was not Palestine but Mesopotamia, and not only had the patriarch Abraham been called from the far distant land of the Chaldæans (Acts vii. 2–5), but whole centuries of the nation’s existence had been spent in a strange country. In Egypt the Divine blessing had not failed to rest upon the piety of Joseph (Acts vii. 6–10), or upon the descendants of Jacob, when they all went down and sojourned there (Acts vii. 11–16). In Egypt God raised up Moses their great Deliverer, preserved his life from the machinations of Pharaoh, and so ordered events that he became learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and mighty in words and in deeds[726] (Acts vii. 17–22). In Midian He revealed Himself to him in the vision of the Burning Bush, and sent him forth to lead the ransomed people towards the Promised Land; but though by his hands their fathers had received the Law, it had not kept them from idolatry[727]; though he had set up the tabernacle of witness, it had not kept them from setting up the tent of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan[728] (Acts vii. 22–44): nay, when, on the subjugation of the Canaanitish nations, that Tabernacle had been brought into Canaan, and was there after a long delay exchanged for the Temple, on which the Jews threw the whole stress of their dependence, neither Solomon himself who built it, nor the prophets[729] had ever regarded it as in the highest sense the dwelling-place of the Most High (Acts vii. 44–50).
Thus far the great Hellenist was heard with patience. “It was the story of the Chosen People, to which every Jew listened with interest and pride[730].” But now,—perhaps perceiving that his hearers had caught the real drift of this review of their national history,—perhaps carried away by the retrospect of their narrow and persistent opposition to the divine counsels which it suggested,—in a strain of holy indignation he rebuked the unbelieving hypocritical disposition of the Jews, whose conduct in reference to the divine communications had been the same from the time of Moses up to that very moment[731]; who had always resisted the Holy Ghost, persecuted the prophets, and slain those that had predicted the coming of the Just One; who had betrayed and murdered Him, and had not kept the Law which they had received by the disposition of angels (Acts vii. 50–53).
This severe though just rebuke was the signal for an outburst of wrath and fury on the part of his judges. They were sawn asunder[732] in their hearts, and gnashed upon him with their teeth. Perceiving what was coming, and unaffrighted by their tumultuous rage, he looked up to heaven, and exclaimed, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man[733] standing[734] on the right hand of God (Acts vii. 56). This last declaration was more than the Sanhedrin could bear. Breaking forth into a loud yell (Acts vii. 57), they stopped their ears, as if to close them against any more words of blasphemy, and rushing upon him with one accord led him forth outside the city gate to stone him[735] (Lev. xxiv. 16). The instruments of punishment were collected, the witnesses threw off their loose outer garments (Deut. xvii. 7), laid them at the feet of a young Pharisee, a prominent member of the Cilician synagogue, named Saul, and hurled the first stones. As they fell, the martyr cried to Him whose form he had so lately seen standing at the right hand of God, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Acts vii. 59). Then falling on his knees, he exclaimed with a loud voice, in the words of his Master on the Cross, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, and—in the touching language of the narrator, “who now uses for the first time the word, since applied to the departure of all Christians, but here the more remarkable from the bloody scenes in the midst of which the death took place—he fell asleep[736] (Acts vii. 60).”
PART II.
THE CHURCH OF PALESTINE.
CHAPTER I.
DISPERSION OF THE CHRISTIANS—ACTIVITY OF PHILIP.
A.D. 36.
THE martyrdom of the great Hellenist, who was conveyed to his grave amidst much lamentation by devout men[737] (Acts viii. 2), was the signal for a furious persecution of the Christians. The protection with which the prudence of Gamaliel had hitherto shielded them was now withdrawn. Pharisee and Sadducee alike[738], in the absence or with the connivance of the Roman procurator[739], turned against the hated sect, and the young Cilician of Tarsus, who was consenting to the death of Stephen (Acts viii. 1), and probably was now or shortly afterwards a member of the Sanhedrin[740], found himself able to give vent to the full fury of his zeal.
Resolved to make havoc of the Church (Acts viii. 3), he invaded the dwellings of those who professed adherence to the Christian faith, dragged forth their inmates, whether men or women, and committed them to prison (Acts viii. 3, xxvi. 9, 10, xxii. 3). Some of these persecuted people he scourged, often, in many synagogues (Acts xxvi. 11); some he strove to compel to blaspheme the Holy Name whereby they were called (Acts xxvi. 11); others he brought before the Sanhedrin, and when it was decided that they should be put to death, gave his vote against them[741] (Acts xxvi. 10), so that his fame as an inquisitor spread beyond the boundaries of Palestine, and reached even the distant city of Damascus (Acts ix. 13).