Acts 6:8-15 (New International Version)
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous 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. These men began to argue with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy 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.
Have you ever tried to find an image of Stephen with the face of an angel? If you find one that is reasonable, let me know. The early church didn’t have to guess what angels looked like, they knew. Angels surrounded the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the 40 days Jesus walked on earth after the resurrection.
Maybe Stephen’s face was radiant like Moses in the presence of God; Stephen was seeing God. Or was Stephen’s face strong like the Angel of the Lord, who wrestled with Jacob? It’s part of conversation to say a child has the face of an angel, is this the innocence angels project?
What did the people see when they saw Stephen? We can’t see with our eyes, but Father God wanted you and me to know, to understand, what they saw in Stephen: He was one of the first seven Christian deacons, of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. Stephen - a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6).
In the book of Acts, following the gospels of Jesus Christ, Stephen was known for doing “great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” That’s a great statement in the book of Acts. We, as Christians today, have days of knowing discouragement; events do not always give us the immediate victory. We wonder where God is when we aren’t winning the victory. Stephen did not have to win all the battles to have fought the good fight and found favor with God.
Stephen knew that day, in front of the Sanhedrin, wasn’t going to be a personal victory; he found strength to have faith. The light of Christ was going to continue to shine.
Stephen continued to look and see God.
Acts 7: 59
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.
The light of Jesus Christ continued to shine.
Acts 7:58
Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
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