Acts 7:54-60 Stephen's Death

Acts 7:54-60 Stephen is stoned to death. Apparently the Council had listened without interrupting up to this point.  But when Stephen accused them of betraying and murdering the Messiah, and not keeping the Law of Moses, they were cut in their hearts. It is a little hard to figure out what is meant by them gnashing their teeth at or on Stephen. It almost sounds like they started chewing him, although perhaps that is metaphorical. Maybe they were grinding their teeth. But the outcome was that they drove Stephen out of the city and began stoning him. There is no record of the Sanhedrin delivering a verdict. Most likely the charges were based on Deuteronomy 17, and since they laid their garments at the feet of Saul, this implies some kind of official sanction for Stephen's execution.

          What do we make of all this? Stephen is the first recorded martyr in the New Testament. He looked into heaven and saw the glory of God with Jesus standing at the right hand of God, which he described.  This transcendent vision gave him strength and comfort as he endured mortal agony, and the grace to forgive his own murderers. (Acts 7:59-60) We sing of this in the second stanza of the hymn 'The Son of God Goes Forth to War' by Reginald Heber.

The martyr first whose eagle eye could pierce beyond the grave,

Who saw his Master in the sky and called on Him to save:

Like him with pardon on his tongue in midst of mortal pain,

He prayed for them that did the wrong. Who follows in His train?

Visions of God’s throne are recorded only a few times in Scripture. (Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1 & 10, and Revelation 4-5). In every case there are circumstances of grave tribulation or distress. So perhaps we should not, at least from the viewpoint of this life, be seeking such a vision, unless we are prepared for the accompanying life-conditions.

As he was dying from the stones, Stephen called on The Lord to receive his spirit. His final words were forgiveness - asking The Lord to not count this sin against them. Thus in the truest sense he witnessed (marturos) for Christ - showing love and forgiveness for his enemies as commanded by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27)