Deacons: Part 2 St Stephen
In the last post we looked at the role of deacons in the early Church. The seven named deacons were:
Stephen,
Philip,
Prochorus,
Nicanor,
Timon,
Parmenas,
Nicolas
We will look at each of these and their stories, both in the Bible and from what is known from Church history. We will start with St Stephen, the first martyr.
St Stephen’s Story
Stephen was chosen as a deacon to serve the non-Jewish Christian widows. He was described as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit in Acts 6:
Acts 6 v 5
They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
It later says in verse 8, how he was full of grace and power and performed signs and wonders.
Stephen then upset the Synagogue of the Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, and those from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia (Turkey). This synagogue was likely Jews who had been slaves in the distant parts of the Roman Empire and then became free. They had returned to Jerusalem and met at a particular synagogue.
They argued with Stephen, but could not overcome his wisdom or the Holy Spirit within him. So they lied about how he had blasphemed against Moses.
Stephen was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. This was an assembly who would rule on the Jewish customs. The Romans gave the court some powers of punishment.
False witnesses were brought to condemn him, but Stephen gave an apologetic speech. He ended it by criticising the elders. And finished up by saying that he saw a vision of Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.
At this comment, they dragged Stephen outside the city walls and stoned him until he was dead.
Seeing the Son of Man
Acts 7 v 55-56
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Son of Man is how Jesus referred to Himself. It comes from the Book of Daniel.
Daniel 7 v 13
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.
Here, the Son of Man is given dominion and authority over all nations and languages.
This led to the 1st Century Jewish theology called the ‘Two Powers in Heaven’. This was a widely held belief amongst the Pharisees. They believed there were two thrones in Heaven, one occupied by God and the other occupied by a yet unknown person.
When Jesus tells the High Priest that He is the Son of Man, the priest tore his clothes and condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy.
Mark 14 v 62
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
This theological idea was banned by the Jewish authorities after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So Stephen confirmed the position of Jesus in Heaven and the prophecy in Daniel.
Like Christ, Stephen was condemned to death for uttering the same prophecy.
Symbolism in the Story
In the story, it is mentioned that Stephen’s face was like an angel.
Acts 6 v 15
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Maybe Luke is telling us that Stephen is symbolically like a messenger of God. After all, angel means messenger.
Another view could relate to the idea that one of the Old Testament names for the archangels was ‘sons of God’.
In John 1 v 12, we are told that those who believe in Jesus can become children or sons of God. So Christians will replace the fallen angels. By Luke suggesting Stephen had a face like that of angel, he was saying that he was like a child of God.
It is also interesting that the priests gnash their teeth. It reminds me of how it is linked to those who are cast into Hell and also the enemies of God.
Psalm 37 v 12
The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
The priests condemned Stephen, but actually, by their actions, they were the ones condemned as enemies of God.
The final element I want to look at is the stoning. This seems a common practice in New Testament times. The stones remind me of the Uncut Stone in Daniel’s vision which destroyed the statue or the stone used by David to kill Goliath.
Stoning is symbolically link to God’s judgement, though in the case of Stephen, the judgement did not fall on him, but the Temple of Jerusalem (destroyed in AD70).
I will address the topic of martyrdom in another post. But it may be unsurprising to learn that five of the seven deacons named above, died as martyrs.