Acts 7:30-34 ~ holy ground

The Winner, sculpted by Glenna Goodacre. She designed: The Vietnam Woman's Memorial in Washington D.C. & the obverse of the Sacagawea Dollar for the USA in 2000. She is a native born Texan, unfortunately transplanted to another state. And currently in good recovery from a stroke in 2007.


Acts 7:30-34 (New Revised Standard Version)

"Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 'I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.'"

You have to love and adore the bible verses that pack it all in: miracles, acts of God, martyrdom, eloquence, corrupt men of God, valiant deeds, famous words and utmost bravery for the Highest God. This is indeed the book of Acts - it is Stephen, the bible records him having the face of an angel while telling the most important teachers of Israel how they had missed the most important event... the Messiah. What angered them the most: being talked down to, Stephen's profound joy, hollow victory of the top position for religious status, repeat problems with a dead/risen man they had famously given an unjust trial - at night, or being accused of murdering the Son of God?


Sanhedrin Council records, recorded by Talmuds, collected before 400 A.D., report Jesus being alive and a burden to them. After Stephen died they reported this: "On the eve of the Passover they hung Jeshu [the Nazarene]. And the crier went forth before him forty days (saying), [Jeshu the Nazarene] goeth forth to be stoned, because he hath practices magic and deceived and led Israel astray. Anyone who knoweth aught in his favor, let him come and declare concerning him. And they found naught in his favor."

There were a lot of negative, untrue statements written about Jesus in the Sanhedrin Council records, but a list of the positive proof extracted from the negative is this:

• Jesus was alive, they recognized the crowd loved him and they had a dilemma at hand.

• Jesus was born under unusual circumstances, leading some rabbis to address him as ben Pandira and " a bastard of an adulteress."
• Jesus' mother Mary was Heli's daughter.
• Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover.
• Jesus made himself alive by the name of God.
• Jesus was a son of a woman.
• Jesus claimed to be God, the son of God, the son of man.
• Jesus ascended and claimed that he would return again.
• Jesus was near to the kingdom and near to kingship.
• Jesus had at least five disciples.
• Jesus performed miracles, i.e. practiced "sorcery".
• Jesus' name has healing power.
• Jesus' teaching impressed one rabbi.

Stephen's face is the burning bush. How could this man have gone to his death willingly with such ease? This Sanhedrin Council did not banish Stephen to live at the outer edges, he was too dangerous. In fury over his joy, they destroyed him immediately & he went down forgiving them. I will wonder, today- an appropriate question for lent, how the Sanhedrin Council spent the next several weeks, each person, digesting the destruction of such joy....

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