New Testament · New Testament
Stephen
“Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to 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.'”Acts 7:55-56
Biography
Stephen was one of the seven deacons appointed by the apostles to oversee the distribution of food among widows in Jerusalem. Described as 'a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit' and 'full of God's grace and power,' he performed signs and wonders and engaged in debate with the synagogue. Falsely accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin and delivered the longest speech in Acts — a sweeping survey of Israel's history — before being dragged out and stoned. He was the first Christian martyr. As he died, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God and prayed for his killers. The young man Saul watched.
Spiritual Lesson
Stephen's death is not only the first Christian martyrdom — it is the seed from which Paul was grown. His prayer for his killers, his vision of the standing Christ, and his unflinching testimony under false accusation are a direct echo of Jesus's own death. He showed that the pattern of the cross — service, witness, rejection, forgiveness — is not unique to Jesus but reproducible in any life surrendered to him. The man Saul saw die was the reason Saul could not forget the resurrection.