In his commentary on Acts, Luke Timothy Johnson points out how carefully Saint Luke has crafted this narrative so that it mirrors the crucifixion of Jesus. Stephen glimpses “heaven standing open” (7:56) in a way similar to how Jesus saw heaven opened at his baptism (Luke 3:21). The angry mob drags Stephen outside the city to stone him (7:58) in a way similar to how the angry mob drove Jesus outside town to kill him (Luke 4:29). Stephen commits his spirit into the Lord’s hands (7:59) in a way similar to how Jesus commits his spirit into the Father’s hands on the cross (Luke 23:46). And, as mentioned, Stephen prays that the Lord would not hold the sin of his murderers against them (7:60), in a way similar to how Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified him (Luke 23:34).
It seems like Luke wants us to read Stephen’s execution as participating, in some way, in the story of Jesus himself, and, especially, in the death of our Lord on the cross. Stephen’s martyrdom, that is to say, is a cruciform death, one informed by and patterned after the death of Jesus himself.
That, on it’s own is a sobering thought, but it becomes all the more so when you read the very next verse that follows. Because immediately after we read Stephen’s prayer asking God to forgive his executioners—a prayer patterned after the prayer of Christ on the cross—we read in 8:1 that Saul (aka Paul) was standing there, “giving approval to Stephen’s death.” Whether Paul personally threw a stone or not is moot, here; the narrative clearly implicates him in the travesty of justice that happened that day. Very likely it was this moment that Paul himself had in mind in places like 1 Timothy 1:15, where he describes himself as “the chief of sinners” (see also 1 Cor 15:9).
Here is where the connect-a-dot of Bible verses forms a fascinating picture, though. Because those who have read the Book of Acts to the end will know that Saul goes on to become one of the most influential and indefatigable missionaries for the cause of Christ the church has ever known. The Saul whom Stephen prayed for on the day of his death would eventually become Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, who counted everything as dung in comparison to knowing Christ and roamed the world seeking places to preach Him where the name was not yet known.
In other words, God literally answered Stephen’s prayer that day, and showed his executioners His divine mercy and grace. Certainly in Paul’s life, at least, he did, because by God’s grace, Paul became an apostle of Christ Jesus himself, forgiven and empowered to preach the name he once persecuted. Speculating about “what ifs” is kind of futile when it comes to the Sovereignty of God, but even so, I can’t help but wonder: how might Paul’s story have turned out differently, if Stephen had not followed his Lord’s example and prayed for the forgiveness of those who persecuted him.
It reminds me of Jesus’s promise to his disciples in John 20:23, that anyone they forgive will be forgiven, and those they don’t forgive will not. More than reminding us of them, Stephen’s story vividly illustrates them. Stephen forgave Paul (if not directly, certainly as part and parcel to his prayer for all those who murdered him that day). God forgave Paul (Acts never directly connects Paul's forgiveness to Stephen’s prayer, but the fact that Act 8:1 follows directly on the heels of 7:60 make it fair game, I think, to align the two). And Paul, forgiven, goes on to champion the Gospel of Reconciliation that he once tried to snuff out.
What if Stephen had not learned the lesson of the cross so well?
And what might God do in the lives of those we forgive, if we will learn the message of the cross as well as Stephen did?
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