A martyr is a person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce his/her religious beliefs. Justin (110-165 AD) was a Samaritan Christian given the honorary title ‘Martyr’ for not renouncing his faith that Jesus is Lord. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, the first recorded (Jewish) Christian martyr was Stephen. Stephen didn’t renounce Jesus. The account is in Acts 6–7.
The initial Jerusalem church grew rapidly in the 30s AD (Ac.5:14). Ac.6:1-7 Stephen was a Hellenist or Greek-speaking deacon there. At this time, an estimated 10–20% of Jerusalem spoke Greek (rather than Aramaic, cf. Ac.1:19). They used the Greek Old Testament, which became the Septúagint/LXX. The early church was then composed of Jewish Christians only, no Samaritans, no gentiles yet. Ac.6:5 Stephen was one of seven men chosen by the church to distribute food & alms to Hellenist widows (cf. Ja.1:27). Ac.6:8 God worked miracles through Stephen, who was filled with the Holy Spirit (HS).
Ac.6:9-10 many in the Freedmen synagogue were emancipated captive or slave Jews & proselytes. Also persons who’d come from Alexandria, Cilicía, and elsewhere. Saul/Paul was from Tarsús in Cilicia (Ac.21:39), and likely he attended this Jerusalem synagogue. Most weren’t (Jewish) Christians, and they began to argue with Stephen. But the HS gave Stephen wisdom they couldn’t withstand.
Their arguments failed. Ac.6:11 “So they secretly induced some men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” These claimed they heard Stephen blaspheme; that is, to revile God or sacred things. v.12 “They stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes; they seized him and brought him before the Sanhédrin.” For trial by the great court, sitting at Jerusalem.
They then hired lying witnesses to testify against Stephen. Ac.6:13-14 “And they set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man incessantly speaks evil against this holy place and the Law. For we’ve heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and alter the customs Moses handed down to us.”
Ac.6:15 “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and saw his face was like the face of an angel.” This is reminiscent of Ex.34:29, where Moses’ face shined from God’s Presence.
Stephen was accused of speaking blasphemy against: God, Moses, the temple, the Law (Ac.6:11-13). He’d probably taught that the days of God’s temple worship and sacrifices, based on ceremonial law given to Moses, would come to an end. Disbelieving Jews in his synagogue wrongly viewed that as blasphemy.
They also claimed that Stephen said Jesus would destroy their temple and alter their customs (v.14). 600 years earlier Daniel had prophesied. Da.9:26-27 LXX “The Christ will be cut off, and He will destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince who is coming. And on the temple will be an abomination of desolation.” Mk.13:1-2, 14 Jesus confirmed regarding their temple, “Not one stone shall be left upon another which shall not be torn down. When you see the abomination of desolation.” Jn.2:19-21 Jesus also said to Jewish leaders in regards to His own body they would crucify, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up”. (cf. 2Co.5:1) Yet in Mk.14:56-59, false witnesses testified against Jesus, saying He would destroy their temple. But their testimony was inconsistent.
The accused in Israel had a right to a fair trial before sentencing. De.17:2-7 “If in any of your towns a man or woman does what is evil, has served other gods or worshiped them; you shall investigate it thoroughly. If so, stone them to death. On the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses shall he worthy of death be executed. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him.” If the case was too difficult for the local appellate court, it was taken to the central court/Sanhedrin. v.8-10 “If any case is too difficult to decide, then you shall go to the place the Lord your God chooses. The Levitical priest or judge will declare the verdict.” And the high priest is present (Caiáphas?, Mt.26:3) with the court at this trial, Ac.7:1.
The penalty for serving/worshiping pagan gods was death. De.13:6-8 said to not join in service to other gods of even a relative! If a guilty verdict is delivered at his trial, execute him. v.9-11 “You shall stone him to death because he sought to lead you away from the Lord your God.” A less relevant incident is Le.24:11-16. “The son of an Israelite blasphemed the Name and cursed. The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Let all the congregation stone him. The alien as well as the native who blasphemes the Name shall be put to death.” This applied to both Israelites and aliens in the Land. (Note: Judaism forbad uttering the Name YHVH in common speech; so speaking the Name was discontinued, due to an extreme interpretation of this Le.24 passage combined with Ex.20:7.)
Also there was a rebel beating custom for cases which were perceived to be so obvious…an actual trial was thought unnecessary. Nu.25:1-5 reflects Moses’ decision against Israelite leaders who joined in heathen worship (v.4-5). Moses as judge authorized the execution of those guilty. v.6-8 yet Phineás the priest’s act of slaying two who were engaged in a form of religious prostitution later became the prototype to vindicate the rebel beating practice. That is, sentence or execution without an official verdict. They would take the law into their own hands to administer ‘justice’ in their eyes. To ref this practice unto death, see Jn.10:31-32 (below), and Lk.4:29 where Jesus’ opposers in the synagogue tried to throw Him over a cliff. Also, Paul was the intended victim of a rebel beating in Ac.21:30-31.
Jesus said in Jn.10:30-33, “I and the Father are one’. The Jews took up stones to stone Him. The Jews answered Him, ‘We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you make yourself out to be God.” Those Jews understood Jesus’ implication. In Jn.19:5-7 the Jewish leaders cried out to Pilate against Jesus, “Crucify Him! We have a law, by which He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God”. To their understanding, Jesus had declared Himself to be (a false) God!
Lk.23:4-7 the Jewish leaders brought the accused Jesus before Pilate the Procurator (manager) in the province of Judea. Pilate learned He was from Galilee (not a resident of Judea), in Herod’s jurisdiction. So Pilate sent Him to Herod. In Jn.18:31, the Jewish leaders in Judea claimed they weren’t permitted to put anyone to death. Historical sources conflict regarding the extent of Sanhedrin power to execute in the 30s AD. The right to execute convicted criminals in Roman provinces was held by the Governor (Pilate here). Emil Schurer said a death sentence then must be ratified by the Procurator. It’s also said the Sanhedrin was allowed to execute persons who violated the sanctity of the Jerusalem temple in Judea (destroyed 70 AD). Jesus was from the province of Galilee, whereas Stephen lived in Jerusalem.
With that background, let’s return to Stephen’s case. His trial will be for blasphemy and serving another god, according to disbelieving Jews there. All of Acts 7 is Stephen’s lengthy discourse or justification as his defense. In it, he relates scripture history about: the patriarchs, Moses, Israel’s disobedience to God, the temple would come to an end.
Then Stephen takes the offensive in Ac.7:51-53. “You men are stubborn and resist the Holy Spirit as your ancestors did. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered!”
The same Greek terminology is in Is.53:11 LXX. “The Righteous One shall bear their sins.” Isaiah prophesied of Jesus. (The traditional Martyrdom of Isaiah says Isaiah himself was sawn in half by Jewish leaders, cf. He.11:37.) Also, after Saul/Paul had a vision of the ascended Jesus, Ac.22:14 Ananías said God had appointed Saul to see and hear the Righteous One.
Ac.7:54-56 “When the Sanhedrin heard this, they were enraged. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (This reflects the tri-unity of God.) The prophet Daniel had referred to the Son of Man to come in Da.7:13-14. Jesus called Himself the Son of Man more than 70 times in the New Testament, e.g. Mt.26:64. He.12:2 & Col.3:1 says Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Yet in Ac.7:56, Jesus is standing at God’s right hand, perhaps in honor of Stephen’s testimony of Him!
In the opinion of the Sanhedrin/disbelieving Jews, Jesus was a dead man. But here Stephen is indicating to them that the man supposedly dead is really…a live God! They think Stephen is violating De.17 & 13 publically; that he’s putting forth the Son of Man Jesus as a false god! With their own ears they heard/witnessed Stephen utter his vision, which they construed as blasphemy.
Ac.7:57-58 “They shouted loudly, covered their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord. And when they’d dragged him outside the city, they began to stone him. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.” Taking Stephen outside the city, witnesses who heard him began to stone him…as per De.17:5-7 (& Le.24:14). JFB Commentary Ac.7:58 “Saul, having perhaps already a seat in the Sanhedrin, some 30 years of age.” Possibly Saul/Paul (of Stephen’s synagogue) was then married and recently become a member of the great Sanhedrin (ref Ac.9:1-2, 26:10-11, Ga.1:14); and he attested to the public slaying. David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary, conjectures “Shaúl was a member of the Sanhedrin.”
Ac.7:59-60 “They continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said loudly, ‘Lord, impute not this sin to their charge.’ And having said this, he fell asleep.” Just before Stephen’s body died or “fell asleep”, he asked the Lord to receive his spirit (ref Ec.12:7, Mt.27:50, He.12:23) and not hold against them their sin of stoning an innocent man to death.
In Mt.23:33-34 Jesus had called the leading scribes & Pharisees, who hated Him and wanted Him dead, vipers doomed to Gehenna. Yet in Lk.23:33-34, Jesus asked Father God to forgive the Romans who ignorantly crucified Him! (They will repent in the future.) Jesus said to Governor Pilate, Jn.19:10-11 “He who delivered me over to you has the greater sin”. The Jewish leaders’ sin of delivering Jesus to death was greater than the sin of Pilate…they knowingly framed & murdered the Son of God!
Stephen was a mere man, and he asked that his Jewish murderers be forgiven for martyring him.
It seems that Stephen’s case was a Sanhedrin trial which ended abruptly with a rebel beating unto death. Jewish Christian Alfred Edersheim’s The Temple, ch. 3 “When the Lord Jesus and His martyr Stephen were before the Sanhedrin, in each case the sitting terminated in the rebels’ beating.”
Ac.8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him [Stephen] to death.” Saul/Paul and the Sanhedrin thought they’d judged and executed a blasphemy case. They heard or witnessed the words about Jesus from Stephen’s own lips! In their opinion, Jesus was a dead man and a false god.
Some of the proceedings at Stephen’s trial do seem to be in accordance with God’s Old Testament law. After his conversion, in Php.3:5-6 Saul/Paul wrote of his earlier unconverted life. “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness of the Law, found blameless.” And Paul’s own later self-defense in Ac.22:3, “I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliél strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God”.
It’s unwonted that Saul the Pharisee (Ac.23:6) agreed with the hardline view of the Sadducean high priest (Ac.5:17, 8:1-3). Saul’s esteemed teacher Gamaliel was a Pharisee with a tolerant approach toward Jewish Christian leaders, Ac.5:33-40! If Saul had followed the precedent of his famous teacher, he wouldn’t have become their murderer! Although the Sanhedrin & Saul/Paul perhaps thought they were upholding God’s injunctions in the judgment…their verdict was wrong. Stephen wasn’t proclaiming a false god. Christ was the God of Israel! (see “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)
It seems the court ignored the Je.23:5-6 passage, where Messiah was prophesied to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH! The Son of Man and Son of God! And misinterpreted Ps.2:7. “The Lord said to Me, ‘You are My Son. Today I have begotten Thee.” (Jesse, not the Lord, begat David, Ru.4:22.)
That was the Sanhedrin’s big mistake (aside from the false testimony of witnesses). Stephen was really innocent of the blasphemy charge. Jesus/Yeshúa isn’t a false god! Actually it was the Sanhedrin who (indirectly) blasphemed in a sense…by denying that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God (Lk.1:32)!
Stephen died following his testimony about the living Christ. Ac.8:2 “Devout men buried Stephen, and mourned deeply for him.” He’d asked the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit (Ac.7:59). In He.12:22-24 it is written of those who “have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, to the festal assembly of the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus”. Stephen asked that he too would be among the righteous with the Lord Jesus. (see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Spirits – Made by God in Light”.)
After Paul was converted, he must have been deeply affected in retrospect by his part in the stoning of Stephen. Even Paul’s sermon as recorded in Ac.13:14-42, which includes some of Israel’s history, is somewhat reminiscent of Stephen’s final address in Acts 7. And years later Paul himself would also be brought before the Sanhedrin (Ac.22:30–23:5)…according to the law (Ac.23:3).
Tradition says Paul was eventually martyred in Rome by Nero. Around 66–67 AD, Paul wrote 2Ti.4:6 (perhaps the final chapter of all Paul’s epistles). “I am being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” v.17 previously he’d been delivered out of the “mouth of the lion”. Rome is the composite fourth beast…Da.7:4, 7 and Re.13:1-2, “Its mouth was the mouth of a lion”.
Tradition says Peter was crucified upside-down, judging himself unworthy to die in the same manner Jesus had died. ref Jn.21:18-19, 2Pe.1:14. According to He.11:35-38, untold saints of Old Testament times suffered martyrdom; not renouncing their faith. (also ref Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs.)
But for many of us Christians today, we’re called in our places of residence to live quiet and peaceable lives. This is also good in God’s eyes. Paul wrote in 1Ti.2:1-3, “That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life, in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” (Jesus the Savior is God.) Also 1Th.4:11 “Aspire to lead a quiet life, minding your own business.”
Some are called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in dangerous areas of the world, where they’ve suffered martyrdom. Whatever our individual calling, the Lord will direct us in His will unto His Kingdom. Paul concluded in 2Ti.4:18, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will save me for His heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory to the ages of the ages! Amen.”
Bible Topic Exposition 