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| The Martyrdom of Stephen
The witness and testimony of the apostles leads to the conversion of many in Jerusalem: “The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). This growing success increases the resentment of the chief priests and leaders; a conflict is brewing, and the teaching of a Greek-speaking Jew named Stephen brings matters to the boiling point. Because of the number of converts, the apostles pray and lay hands upon seven men of outstanding character to serve as deacons. One of these men, Stephen, particularly “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), is arrested for teaching against the customs of Moses and the Temple. A Jew brought up in the Hellenistic culture and now a Christian, Stephen sees that God’s desire is for all people to enter into his Covenant and that his Holy Spirit cannot be limited to one location, even if that place is the Temple. He even seems to have taught with enthusiasm Jesus’ prophetic warning that the Temple would soon be destroyed. All of this is too much for the Temple stewards, who clearly see this teaching as a threat not only to the Temple but also to those like themselves who derive their authority and prestige from it. To teach against the Temple as Jesus did is to risk sharing his fate. Like Jesus, Stephen is cast outside the city. Surrounded by his accusers, he sees a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God, a vision that seems to be a glimpse of Daniel 7—the very vision that Jesus referred to in his trial before the high priest when he said, “From now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God” (Lk 22:69). This puts Stephen’s accusers in a rage, and they stone him. Stephen prays for God to forgive them and not to hold this sin against them, just as Jesus prayed for his enemies while on the cross. As Jesus commended p 269 his spirit to the Father, so Stephen commends his spirit to Jesus, witnessing to his faith that Jesus is God. The trial and murder of Stephen inaugurates an all-out persecution against the Church, led by Saul of Tarsus, who oversaw Stephen’s stoning (Acts 7:58). Luke simply states, “Saul laid waste the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). The early Church is scattered into Judea and Samaria. Instead of destroying the Christian faith, this spreads its seeds into the wind, and it is blown across the world, settling wherever there is good soil in which it can grow and yield a hundredfold. A CT 2: W ITNESSES IN J UDEA AND S AMARIA Peter at Joppa With the intense persecution against Christians in Jerusalem, Peter is constantly on the move visiting his scattered flock. One place the faith spreads to is the seacoast town of Joppa, where Peter raises a disciple named Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36–41), an act that leads many in the town to faith in the Lord. While in Joppa, Peter stays with Simon the tanner. There he has a thrice-repeated vision of numerous animals that are unclean according to Jewish law. A voice commands Peter to slaughter the animals and eat, to which a hungry yet horrified Peter responds, “No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:15). While Peter ponders the vision’s meaning, men from the house of a centurion, Cornelius, arrive from Caesarea Maritime to tell Peter that an angel had instructed their master, a God-fearing man, to send for Peter. Joppa is the same city from which Jonah boarded a ship to avoid God’s call to go east to Nineveh, the capital of Israel’s enemy Assyria. Jonah hoped that by taking a ship headed west, he would avoid God’s intended mission. But on the voyage, Jonah realized that it was not so easy to thwart God’s plans and found himself conveyed by a large fish back on God’s path to Nineveh. In response to Jonah’s preaching, the Gentile city repented and heeded God’s word, something that Israel had repeatedly refused to do, in spite of the many words and signs of prophets like Elijah and Elisha. p 270 Given this background, it doesn’t take Peter, whose father’s name is Jonah (Mt 16:17), long to figure out that his vision that all meat is now clean means not only that the kosher laws are now obsolete but also—and more importantly—that the Gentile- Jewish divide has come to an end. Kosher laws forced Jews to refuse to eat with Gentiles, and Peter’s vision points to God’s desire to bring a new table fellowship between Gentile and Jew. Because of his vision, Peter understands that God is incorporating Gentiles into his covenant people. Peter’s initial refusal to eat the meat in his vision—despite the Lord’s command—points out that everything in his upbringing goes against such a mission, as it did for Jonah before him. Whereas Jonah initially refused to minister to the Gentiles, however, Peter obeys and makes the journey north to the large coastal port city of Caesarea Maritime. Peter tells Cornelius when he meets him, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection” (Acts 10:28–29). Cornelius explains his own vision from God, to which Peter proclaims, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35). God rewards the faith of Cornelius and his household with the gift of the Holy Spirit, after which Peter is compelled to baptize them. Peter’s reference to “every nation” hints at what is soon to come, the Gospel going out to the entire world. On his return to Jerusalem, Peter faces stiff criticism for eating with “uncircumcised men,” referring to Cornelius. Peter explains how his God-given vision declared that “what God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 11:9) and describes how God gave Cornelius’ Gentile household and friends the “same gift” of the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost, so how could he refuse baptism to those God had accepted? Many, now recognizing God’s plan to bless all the nations of the world, praise God for opening the door of salvation and membership in God’s people to the Gentiles: “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Thus, God directs Peter, in whom the Lord entrusted the leadership of his flock, to make a decision that is a turning p 271 point for Israel: Gentiles can enter into God’s people by baptism without having to be circumcised. tải về 6.33 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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