This next entry in following the life of Paul the Apostle is where he is first introduced to us in Scripture. His appearance comes in the context of the trial and execution of Stephen, so I’m going to begin with looking at who Stephen was and what got him in trouble.

The opening chapters of the book of Acts describe the growth and operations of the earliest Christian church in Jerusalem. The apostles (Jesus’ 12 disciples, minus Judas, but adding newly selected Matthias) were preaching the gospel (“good news”) of Jesus concerning his sacrificial atoning death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. In Acts 6 we are told that a dispute arose within the church about the daily distribution of necessities to the needy within the church.

It’s important to understand that at this point the Christian church (they weren’t even being called “Christians” yet – that comes later) was composed entirely of Jews. There were synagogues, of course, in which the Jews gathered to learn and worship God. But the church didn’t hold their meetings in these synagogues – they met in people’s homes. The Christian Jews would still attend the synagogue meetings as well because it was part of their Jewish culture and they would also use those meetings as opportunities to share their faith in Jesus.

The synagogues would have regular ministries to their needy members, and as the church became its own entity, this ministry for their members would naturally shift to them. There were synagogues not only of Jerusalem-born Jews, but some also where the “foreign” Jews – those who had been raised in other Grecian-based communities – would gather. These were the Hellenists. Now, the church would include more “mixing” of these two cultures than a typical synagogue would, but there still were natural cultural separations that might have kept these groups from truly mixing, and it is understandable that some inequities in access to the apostles might occur. You might be interested in reading more about this in an article from Fuller Seminary called The Hellenistic Widows.

Look at Acts 6:1-6.

“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.“

The apostles recognized that they needed help in daily ministry tasks as the church continued to grow. While the apostles no doubt continued serving the people as well (which we see described in continuing passages in Acts), the burden is now being shared by other leaders. The men they chose, though, were not just relegated to physical and material ministry. They were also preaching and exhibiting God’s power among the people. Acts 6 continues:

“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.’ And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.“

The passage focuses on Stephen because he was singled out from these men to face the Sanhedrin. Luke, the writer of Acts, gives us some insight on the false charges levied against Stephen. Stephen was preaching, or at least discussing, the gospel in a synagogue of Freedmen – Hellenists who were former slaves in Gentile communities and were now living in Jerusalem.

The false charges against Stephen were that he spoke “blasphemous words against Moses and God”, against the temple and the law, and that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs instituted by Moses. As a quick review from previous posts, the Sanhedrin lost its ability to exercise capitol punishment the year that Jesus was crucified (30 A.D.). I estimate that about two years had passed since Jesus’ death and resurrection. In that time, the church had grown from around 500 people who witnessed the resurrected Jesus to something on the order of 10,000 believers. The Sanhedrin had tried to stop the preaching of the apostles at least twice, first by threatening them, and then by beating them. Gamaliel, Paul’s mentor, had recommended that they not seek to kill them in the event that God was actually involved in this new sect (Christianity). However, Gamaliel is on record in the Mishnah for generally supporting capital punishment as a deterrent to thwart undesirable behavior.

Chapter 7 of Acts contains the details of Stephen’s trial. As a summary of it, in his own defense he reminded the Sanhedrin of Israel’s history and how their ancestors had killed God’s representatives (the prophets) just as they had killed Jesus. As the mob, which the listeners had essentially become now, became more enraged at his words, he concluded with “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” It is at this point that we catch our first glimpse of Paul.

“But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And 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. And Saul approved of his execution.“

One of the things that I plan with this blog series is to tie in relevant sites in the Holy Land that relate to the topics being discussed. I’m grateful to another blogger, the Hermit’s Door, who has taken photographs of the frescoes inside the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls on the outskirts of Rome, Italy. From an artistic standpoint, I find this place fascinating in that it has 34 or so painted frescoes depicting the life of Paul. The basilica is built over the site of Paul’s tomb.

The first painting is shown below. Stephen is kneeling, about to be pelted with stones, and angels hover above ready to welcome him into heaven. A very stern-faced Paul, dressed in flowing red robes, stands watching – giving his approval to the event.

I can only surmise the discussions that Paul and Gamaliel would have had leading to this event. This is not a “sanctioned” killing by the Roman government. If the Romans knew about it, there may have been some trouble given by them to the Sanhedrin. Nevertheless, the act was approved by Paul and presumably Gamaliel as well. Apparently they saw the threat of Christ-followers as sufficiently great to warrant using death as a deterrent. We’ll see next time how that worked out for them. This set Paul on a collision course with Jesus, which we’ll look at in an upcoming post.

******* Just a quick word about the use of the word Saul vs. Paul. For ease, I’ll be referring to Paul as Paul throughout this series. Saul is his given Hebrew name; Paul is the Greek equivalent.