Sunday, June 1, 2008: Living and Dying for Jesus

Living and Dying for Jesus.
Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.

I. Introduction.
The Bible has a lot to say about human suffering. And that is a good thing, because suffering is one of those things we all have in common. In fact, that is one of the messages the Bible teaches us about suffering. As long as we live on this earth, we will experience broken relationships, death, cancer and other general disappointments.

Another message the Bible communicates to us is the reality that Christians will suffer as a result of our faith in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus spent his last few hours with his disciples explaining to them that the world would treat them the same way the world treated Jesus. People who love Jesus will love the followers of Jesus. People who hate Jesus, falsely accuse Jesus and eventually crucify Jesus will treat his followers the same way.

This was reality for the first several generations of Christ followers. In the generations immediately following the New Testament period, Christians were falsely accused and persecuted for their faith. Christians were accused of cannibalism, because they viewed the Lord’s Supper as representing the body and blood of Jesus. They were accused of practicing incest, because they recognized each other as brothers and sisters through their relationship with Jesus. They were accused of being atheists, because Christians did not acknowledge the national gods of the Roman Empire. But the accusation that caused the most severe persecution was the accusation that Christians were not patriotic.

Everyone in the Roman Empire was expected to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. But the Christians refused to say this. If they would just say the simple three word phrase, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have lived. They didn’t have to actually mean it. They only had to say it.

In the year A.D. 155, an 86 year old church elder name Polycarp was killed, because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.” As a young man, Polycarp had become a Christian under the teaching of the Apostle John. He eventually became a church leader in the city of Smyrna.
Polycarp was arrested by the Roman police and led into a stadium filled with Roman citizens. In front of the cheering crowd, the police captain gave Polycarp one last chance to save his own life: “Swear the Oath, and I will release thee; revile the Christ.”[1] Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme the King who saved me?”[2]

He was tied up, burned at the stake and stabbed. All because he would not say the words, “Caesar is Lord.”

Have you ever wondered what you would do in a situation like that? Would you be willing to die as a result of your faith in Jesus?

The answer to this question is more than a simple “Yes” or “No.” The answer is found in examining the way we live our lives. People who live for Jesus are willing to die for Jesus. People who are not willing to die for Jesus are not willing to live for Jesus.

The Christian life is much more than simply knowing and accepting the truth. In 21st Century American Christianity, we place too much emphasis on knowing and acknowledging what is right and what is wrong. Jesus called us to live the truth, not simply to know the truth.

In the book of Acts, we have watched as the church grew. On one hand, the Jewish religious and political leaders resisted the new Christian movement. On the other hand, ordinary men and women were increasingly attracted to the teachings of the new church. Three thousand people were saved at the Day of Pentecost. Five thousand people were saved when Peter and John preached daily at the Jerusalem Temple. There were even a number of Jewish priests who became Christians. But the tides have now changed. The people are no longer impressed with the teaching and ministry of the young church. For some reason, the people have turned against the Christian faith, and we witness as an angry mob kills a Christian for the very first time.

Read Acts 6: 8 – 15 AND 7: 54 – 60.

Stephen was one of the seven ministers selected by the church and appointed by the Apostles to serve the physical needs of the congregation. The church selected Stephen, because he met the four qualifications: he was a Greek Christian, had a good reputation, was full of the Holy Spirit and was full of wisdom.

Immediately after Stephen’s selection, the book of Acts describes Stephen as “working miracles and wonders.” Up to this point in the story of Christianity, there were only three others who had done this: Jesus, Peter and John. And now Stephen is doing the same work of Jesus and his original Apostles.

This is significant. Stephen is not the Messiah. Stephen is not one of the original twelve Apostles. Stephen is a “second generation” Christian. He has a Greek name, and more than likely became a Christian as a result of one of the big revivals where Peter preached the Gospel. Another way to think about Stephen is to think of him as just like us. The Apostles lived and learned, ate and slept with Jesus. The Apostles were followers of Jesus as a result of their own personal experience in the physical presence of Jesus. You and I have never lived physically with Jesus. And neither did Stephen. Stephen is just like us, because he heard the Gospel and became a Christian without seeing Jesus in the flesh.

On one hand, this can be very encouraging for you and me. Stephen heard the Gospel and became a follower of Jesus. Stephen received the Holy Spirit as a follower of Jesus and was able to work miracles through the power of the Spirit. Since Stephen is just like us, this tells us the power of the Holy Spirit can work in us the same way it worked in Jesus and the Apostles.

On the other hand, this is not very encouraging. Jesus was falsely accused and eventually killed as a result of his faith in God. Later tradition tells us that eleven of the twelve Apostles were killed for their faith. And now Stephen—a second generation Christian just like us—is killed for his faith in Jesus. We ought to live out our faith with the knowledge that it just might lead us to our own death.

II. Stephen’s Trial, Parallels with Jesus.

If you are familiar with the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, then it is obvious how Stephen’s trial and death serve as a kind of parallel. There are numerous places where the two stories intersect.

Acts 6: 11…Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”

Acts 6: 12…They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

Acts 6: 13…They produced false witnesses…

Acts 6: 13…This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Law.

The “holy place” is a reference to the Jerusalem Temple. It was an important part of Judaism in the First Century. The Jews understood the Temple as the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham and the promises made through the Old Testament prophets. Stephen and the rest of the early church did not have the same understanding of the Temple. No. They understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises.

God fulfilled his promises in a person, not in a place.

Acts 6: 14…We heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs of Moses handed down to us.

While we don’t have any of Stephen’s previous sermons recorded in the book of Acts, I believe this is probably the only true witness against Stephen. I don’t know for a fact, but I believe the previous witnesses were false. Stephen did not blaspheme against God. Stephen did not preach against the Law of the Old Testament. Stephen didn’t even preach against the Temple. But I do believe he told people that Jesus would take the place of the Temple. Jesus said that himself. If Stephen preached that, he was only preaching the truth.

III. Stephen’s “Defense.”

There were basically two accusations against Stephen. The false witnesses stood before the high court of the Sanhedrin and told them Stephen spoke against the Temple and the Law. If you compare these accusations to the political climate of Jerusalem in the First Century, you can see how serious this would be.

The Jews no longer governed themselves. They were controlled by the Roman Empire and were assigned a Roman Proconsul to represent Roman interests within the city of Jerusalem. The Jewish people were suffering under heavy taxation and daily ridicule by the Roman military officers omnipresent in the city. The Temple and the Law were the only things they had left to identify themselves as Jews. And Stephen was accused of speaking out against their Jewish identity.

After hearing from the witnesses, the high priest gave Stephen an opportunity to speak in his own defense. We might expect Stephen to insist he is innocent of the false charges. We might expect Stephen to refute the false testimony with his own witnesses. But that is not what happened. Stephen never defended himself. Instead, he preached a sermon recounting the history of the Jewish people from Abraham through Jesus.

Stephen begins his sermon by describing God’s call to Abraham. Abraham was living in Mesopotamia when God spoke to him. Interestingly, at the time of God’s call there was no such place as the Temple. There wasn’t even a written Law for Abraham to follow. Yet, God spoke to him, and Abraham obeyed.

Stephen knew that the Jewish leaders accepted this fact. They knew it was because of Abraham’s faith and obedience that the Law and the Temple even became possible.

Then, Stephen turned his attention to a descendant of Abraham named Joseph. Joseph is significant in Jewish history for several reasons. First, he was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Therefore, Joseph was one of the recognized ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Second, Joseph was significant, because he served as one of many “redeemers” of God’s people throughout the Old Testament.

Joseph was a dreamer. And his eleven brothers resented him for this. In fact, they resented him so much that they sold him to slave traders, and Joseph found himself working as an indentured servant in Egypt. Much of the book of Genesis is devoted to telling the story of Joseph. God used Joseph’s past dreams to help him interpret the dreams of the Egyptian king. Through God’s help and wisdom, Joseph was eventually appointed the second in command over the nation of Egypt. In this position, Joseph devised a wise plan to store up food to prepare for a coming world-wide famine.

Joseph’s father and brothers found themselves in need of food during this famine and came to Egypt for help. In a twist of biblical irony, the brother they sold into slavery was the same man who provided food and salvation for God’s people in their time of need.

Joseph’s family lived in freedom and security in Egypt for hundreds of years. Then came a new king who felt threatened by the Israelites’ presence and conscripted them into slavery. Once again, God sent a “redeemer.” This time the redeemer’s name was Moses.

According to Stephen’s sermon, every time God’s people got into trouble, God sent a redeemer. But this story comes with a warning…Both Joseph and Moses were sent by God to redeem God’s people. Both Joseph and Moses acted in faith and obedience to what God had called them to do. Both Joseph and Moses were rejected by God’s people.

I’m certain the Sanhedrin made the connection Stephen was trying to make. Jesus was just like Joseph and Moses. He was faithful and obedient to God’s call. He came to be the redeemer for God’s people. But he was rejected.

Then, Stephen turned his attention to the Temple. When Moses brought God’s people out of slavery, they spent forty years in the desert before they finally reached the Promised Land. Again, during those forty years, there was no Temple. The people worshipped God in a tent—also known as a tabernacle. God’s people were on the move. A stationary Temple would have done them no good. They needed a portable and temporary place to worship God. In fact, the people had to wait hundreds of years before there was a Temple. Yet, throughout those hundreds of years, the people continued to worship God in ways that were pleasing and acceptable to God.

After hundred of years worshipping God in tents and tabernacles, Israel finally built a permanent Temple. When the Temple was built, a theological shift happened. Whereas the tabernacle was a place to worship God. The Temple came to be understood as a place to contain God. A place where God could be visited whenever they wanted to visit but didn’t have to worry about God’s interfering with daily life.

God cannot be contained in a Temple. The Christian life cannot be lived out fully in the church. God sent his Son, Jesus, to redeem God’s people and to be present in every aspect of our lives. Faith is not about knowing and believing the right things about Jesus. It is not about showing up to church once a week. Faith is experiencing God’s presence in every day living…To give over control of life to Jesus.

And that is why Stephen was killed. He had devoted his entire life to experiencing the Holy Spirit daily. He had given over control of his own life to the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not have to decide at the moment of death whether or not he would die for Jesus. He had lived for Jesus all his life, therefore he was willing to die for Jesus.

IV. Stephen’s Death, Parallels with Jesus.

We pick up here with the parallels between Stephen’s death and Jesus’ death.

Acts 7: 55…But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7: 58…(They) dragged him out of the city…

Acts 7: 59…While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Acts 7: 60… “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

V. Conclusion.

I find it significant that Stephen’s trial and death paralleled Jesus’. That is only fitting, since Stephen’s life also paralleled Jesus’. At the moment of death, Stephen never proclaimed his own innocence. He preached about Jesus. This tells me that Stephen was not the one being tried and examined that day. Jesus was on trial. We see Jesus in both the life and the death of Stephen.


[1] The Martyrdom of Polycarp 9: 11 – 12.
[2] Ibid., 9: 12 – 13.