seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 7:54 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.
Acts 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
I got this from the commentary.The second-century Jewish writing Mishnah, described the practice of stoning: “When the trial is finished, the man convicted is brought out to be stoned…When ten cubits from the place of stoning they say to him, ‘Confess, for it is the custom of all about to be put to death to make confession, and every one who confesses has a share in the age to come’…Four cubits from the place of stoning the criminal is stripped…The drop from the place of stoning was twice the height of a man. One of the witnesses pushes the criminal from behind, so that he falls face downward. He is then turned over on his back. If he dies from this fall, that is sufficient. If not, the second witness takes the stone and drops it on his heart. If this causes death, that is sufficient; if not, he is stoned by all the congregation of Israel.”
Now look who was there....And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul: Saul stood there as the supervisor of the operation. As a member of the Sanhedrin, he had also approved of Stephen’s execution.
i. Young man literally means, “a man in his prime.” It certainly does not mean that Saul wasn’t old enough to be a member of the Sanhedrin. In Acts 26:10, Paul says I cast my vote against them, and the plain implication was that he had a vote as a member of the Sanhedrin.
And finally.... Stephen lost consciousness.He fell asleep: The text describes the passing of Stephen as tenderly as possible. Instead of saying simply that he died, it says that he merely fell asleep — with the idea that he woke up in a much better world.
Yeah...they murdered him. These are the same ones who murdered Jesus. Stephen told them... He saw Jesus standing with God against them, but they wouldn't hear it. They were so angry... so driven... so wild with confrontation... they had to get rid of him. But wait.... They told Pilate they couldn't give a man a death penalty. They had to have Rome put Jesus on the Cross because the law forbade them from Captial Punishment. I guess that little speed bump didn't get in their way this time.
"The thrill of the chase" was an expression I heard when the officer involved shootings started to happen years ago. The documentary stated police officers who are forced to a deadly chase, got a shot of adrenaline from "the thrill of the chase" which causes them to lose self-control, and the suspect gets the brunt of that loss of self-control. That's when Tasers and guns get drawn and things get hairy. That's what happened to the members of the Sanhedrin. They just lost control.
Stephen actually asked God to forgive them. Just like Jesus, Stephen asked God not to hold it against them. "The Devil made them do it".
And look.... hidden over in the next chapter... first sentence.... Saul held their coats.
Saul approved of the execution.
