Acts: Part 13 – The First Martyr
Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke. So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. Stephen launched into a powerful sermon, accusing the Jerusalem leadership of deliberately disobeying God. The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.* It was here, before Paul’s conversion, that he himself presided over the stoning of Stephen.