Christian Saints Podcast

Saint Stephen, the First Martyr

November 07, 2020 Darren C. Ong Season 1 Episode 3
Christian Saints Podcast
Saint Stephen, the First Martyr
Show Notes Transcript

Saint Stephen is known as the protomartyr, the first Christian to die for his faith. In the book of Acts, he is also noted as a deacon, a word that signifies a leadership role in church today, but in Greek just means "servant". We contemplate Stephen's servanthood and his witness, primarily in the book of Acts chapters 6-8.

We also discuss martyrdom in the early Christian church, and read an excerpt of a letter from Saint Igantius of Antioch, another one of the early martyrs. Finally, we study an account from Saint Augustine's City of God, where he describes miracles that happened when Saint Stephen's relics arrived at his city of Hippo.


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 God is glorious in his saints!
 
 Welcome to the third episode of the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. All music is composed by my good friend James John Marks, of Generative Sounds. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today’s episode is about St Stephen, archdeacon and protomartyr. The word “protomartyr” is a title that the Greeks like to use for him, which means first martyr, since he was the first person in the Christian church to be martyred for his faith. 
 
 But let us first talk about his role as a deacon. Today, Deacon is a leadership role in a church, but the word in Greek actually means “servant”. We are first introduced to Stephen in the Bible when he is chosen to be a deacon. But first, a little background. Jesus had just risen from the dead, and after 40 or so days walking the earth he ascended to heaven, leaving the community of believers to the care of his Apostles. The new Christian faith was establishing itself in Jerusalem and facing some problems. There were two communities of Jews in Jerusalem, those who spoke Hebrew (Hebraic Jews) and those who spoke Greek, the language of the Roman Empire (Hellenistic Jews). The new church contained members from both communities, and as often happens in multicultural churches even today, there was tension and misunderstanding.
 
 In Acts 6:1-7:
 
 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
 
 It had been established in Acts that the early Christian church was marked by radical generosity. In Acts 4:35 we hear that the first Christians were selling their houses and land so they can donate more to the poor. Unfortunately, some members of the church community were being left out of this distribution of charity, the widows among the Hellenistic Jews, and this was causing tension between them and the Hebraic Jews. The twelve apostles decided to delegate this problem to the seven deacons 
 We learn a little bit about Stephen here already. The text describes him as a “ a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. From the fact that Nicolas of Antioch is singled out as a “convert to Judaism” suggests that the other six deacons (Stephen included) were probably born Jews. All seven had Greek names, which suggests that Stephen himself was a Hellenistic Jew, the group that was complaining of being left out of the early church’s charity distribution.
 
 As an aside, I think there is a valuable lesson about church leadership here, in how the apostles were willing to delegate authority and not try to do everything on their own, and how in response to a community in their church feeling neglected and ignored, they raised some of their members to positions of trust and responsibility.


 We see here already the “servant” role that Stephen takes upon himself, work that the twelve disciples were not willing to do. The way the twelve apostles talk about the work given to Stephen sounds almost demeaning ““It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables”, so we’ll make Stephen and his friends wait on tables instead.
 
 But that is part of being a servant (for, again, that is what deacon means!) To do the work that is important, yet unglamourous, work that nobody else wants to do. What work is it? To take care of administration, that in the distribution of food none of the widows would be left out. To be a peacemaker between two factions of a church that don’t like each other, and to help bring about reconciliation between them. I’ve been in many churches where I have been grateful for faithful administrators, faithful peacemakers- and although their role in a church is low-profile, it is vital, and we should all bethankful for their servanthood, in doing things that nobody else wants to do. Perhaps this self-sacrifice in the deacon (or servant) role was preparation for Stephen’s ultimate act of self-sacrifice, as a martyr for his faith. Let us transition away from Stephen as deacon, and now look to Stephen as martyr.



 We will continue where we left off in the book of Act, chapter 6, starting at verse 7, until the first verse of chapter 7.
 
 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

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.
 
 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”



 We see here Stephen has become a miracle-worker too . The Holy Spirit is performing signs and wonders through him, and enabling him to speak with conviction about his faith. He is taken to some sort of trial, where he is accused of speaking against the Jewish customs. 
 
 Incidentally, the Greek word for martyr means today someone who dies for their faith. But it literally means witness, like a witness in a trial. Stephen, is in court, a witness to what God has revealed to him through Jesus Christ. Chapter 7 covers his witness testimony. I won’t read the whole thing (it is long) but Stephen recounts the history of the Jewish people, from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to David, and finally, to Solomon’s construction of the temple in Jerusalem. Let us then listen to the end of his speech. We’ll start at 7: 48 and end at 53
 
 it was Solomon who built a house for him.
 However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
     and the earth is my footstool.
 What kind of house will you build for me?
 says the Lord.
     Or where will my resting place be?
 50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l]

 51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

 Stephen condemns the outward, superficial religion of his captors, symbolized by the Jerusalem temple. And he notes that despite their adherence to the forms of their religion, their hearts and ears were “uncircumcised”, not turned toward God. Just as the ancient Jews ignored the words of the prophets and persecuted them, the Jews of Stephen’s time resisted the prophet Jesus, and killed the innocent man Jesus. They are about to kill another innocent man. We continue with verse 54
 
 54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But 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. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
 
 And Saul approved of their killing him.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.


 

 “Look, I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”- Stephen tells the court what he sees, and is killed for it, bringing together the ancient meaning of the word “martyr” (martus, witnesss) and the modern meaning.
 
 This passage also gives a poignant connection between St Stephen and the Apostle Paul. There is a strange detail in verse 58, the witnesses laid their coats at a feet of a young man named Saul (this was what Paul’s name was at the time). We hear of this event later in Paul’s perspective, in Acts 22:20 when Paul says “ And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’”While Paul was not throwing stones, he was helping the murderers and giving them approval, and was participating actively in the persecution of Christians after Stephen’s death.
 
 I wonder about the impact of Stephen’s last words, the prayer ”Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. We can see this prayer being answered in the life of Paul, that even after his participation in this ghastly spectacle, God shows him mercy and offers him a chance to repent. Paul turns his life around on the road to Damascus, and becomes the early church’s foremost champion and missionary. And it does seem that Stephens witness, his sacrifice, and his prayers are what paves the way for Paul’s ministry, and the church growing beyond Jerusalem, and taking root all over the world.
 
 Stephen’s very name came to symbolize glory. Christian writings, including in the Bible refer to a “crown of life”, “crown of glory” a “crown of martyrdom”- all these are puns on Stephen’s name (the Greek word Stéphanos means crown) Stephen would be the first of the martyrs, but many more would follow him. To be a Christian in the early centuries A.D. meant to live a life of constant danger, as the Roman emperors embarked on periodic deadly persecutions of the new faith. Some early Christians reacted to these persecutions in a way that seems strange to modern ears. 
 
 The most striking of these sentiments are in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch, a Bishop who was martyred somewhere between 108 and 140 AD. He says, in one of his letters:
 
 Leave me to be a meal for the beasts, for it is they who can provide my way to God. I am His wheat, ground fine by the lions’ teeth to be made purest bread … Fire, cross, beast-fighting, hacking and quartering, splintering of bone and mangling of limb, even the pulverizing of my entire body—let every horrid and diabolical torment come upon me, provided only that I can win my way to Jesus Christ!
 
 The only way to make sense of these sentiments is to understand the central promise of the Christian faith. Just as Jesus Christ was killed, and was resurrected, we believe that we, his followers will also defeat death, that we will also be resurrected. Death is a defeated enemy. And this release from the power of death frees us to love and serve exuberantly. We have the freedom to spend our life doing underappreciated work, like caring for poor widows, as Stephen did, without the fear that we are wasting our time. Without the fear that we are missing out on a better life caring for ourselves. We have the freedom to take great risks for our faith, even risking death, because we know that death is not the end. 
 
 These sentiments also point to the sense that this communion, this connection with God, made possible through Christ’s death and resurrection is a greater joy than any pleasure life in this world has to offer. Stephen’s exuberance at seeing Jesus: ‘“ Look! I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.!” Outweighed by far any fear he had of his death.
 
 We see a shift in early Christian attitudes about death, compared to the Jewish faith it sprung from.
 Traditionally Jews treated dead bodies and graves as unclean, to be avoided. However, Christians celebrated the sites of Christian martyrdoms as sacred, and even the dead bodies (relics) of Christian martyrs as revered. Many churches were founded on the places that prominent saints were killed. St Peter’s basilica in Rome is the most famous example, located where St Peter was believed to have been executed. Christians disagree of whether Stephen’s stoning happened in the North or East gate of Jerusalem, so today there are two churches there dedicated to St Stephen, one at each possible site, a Roman Catholic church at the north gate, and a Greek Orthodox church at the east gate.
 
 Indeed, St Stephen’s ministry did not end at his death. Four hundred years later, when his tomb was discovered, and his relics were sent all over the Roman empire, including to a place called Hippo in North Africa. Its Bishop was the famous St Augustine of Hippo, and in his book “The City of God” St Augustine speaks at length about St Stephen, and the miracles that occurred from his relics.
 In Book XXII, Chapter 8 of the “City of God” St Augustine addresses the objection that miracles no longer happened in his day as they did in Biblical times, something people sometimes say in our day to discredit the Christian faith. Augustine answers that miracles still do occur, they are simply less well known. He then uses as examples many miracles that happened in Hippo that came from contact with St Stephen’s relics, including some that he saw with his own eyes. The miracles he mentioned were spectacular, including a Spanish priest being raised from the dead. After listing many accounts of these miracles, Augustine says that so many have happened that he cannot possibly write about them all.
 
 What am I to do? I am so pressed by the promise of finishing this work that I cannot record all the miracles I know…. [W]ere I to be silent of all others, and to record exclusively the miracles of healing which were wrought in the district of Calama and of Hippo by means of this martyr—I mean the most glorious Stephen—they would fill many volumes…



For when I saw, in our own times, frequent signs of the presence of divine powers similar to those which had been given of old, I desired that narratives might be written, judging that the multitude should not remain ignorant of these things. It is not yet two years since these relics were first brought to Hippo-regius, and… those [miracles] which have been published amount to almost seventy at the hour at which I write. But at Calama, where these relics have been for a longer time, and where more of the miracles were narrated for public information, there are incomparably more.
 
 I have had the privilege of having wonderful Christian mentors in my formative years, and by coincidence three of them were named after Stephen. I would like to dedicate this episode to them and their families, listed in the order that I met them. First, Scott Stephens, who was my college pastor in my undergraduate years. Stephen Moll, who led my small group at church when I was doing my PhD, and Steve Turley, who was coordinating the Intervarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries at Rice Unviersity where I was an active member. They, together with their wives Cyndi, Beth, and Ruth exemplified the servanthood, self-sacrifice and witness of St Stephen, and I am super grateful for their work, their prayers, and their influence in my life.
 

Let us end by saying the Eastern Orthodox troparion for St Stephen
 
 Protomartyr and mighty warrior of Christ our God, / you were victorious in battle and crowned with glory, holy Stephen. / You confounded the council of those who persecuted you, / beholding your Savior enthroned at the Father’s right hand. / Never cease praying that our souls may be saved!