Commentary - Acts 6:8-15

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Acts, the Spirit-filled energy of the early church, having just addressed an internal administrative problem, now confronts an external theological assault. Stephen, one of the seven men chosen to serve tables, is shown to be far more than a mere functionary. He is a man operating in the full power of the Holy Spirit, performing signs and wonders, and speaking with a wisdom that his opponents cannot refute. This passage sets the stage for the first martyrdom in the Christian church and introduces the central conflict that will drive much of the book of Acts: the collision between the old covenant structures, represented by the Temple and the Law, and the new covenant reality in Jesus Christ. The opposition, unable to win a fair argument, resorts to lies, slander, and mob violence, a pattern that will repeat itself throughout church history. They accuse Stephen of blasphemy, the very charge they leveled against his Master. The passage culminates in a striking portrait of Stephen before the Sanhedrin, his face shining like an angel's, a visible manifestation of God's favor upon His faithful servant.

Outline

Stephen's Power and Wisdom

The narrative makes it clear that Stephen is not just a good man, but a man supernaturally endowed by God for his task. He is "full of grace and power" (v. 8), which manifests in two ways: "great wonders and signs" and an irresistible wisdom in speech (v. 10). This is a direct fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to His disciples, that when they were brought before councils, He would give them "a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict" (Luke 21:15). The power of the early church was not in organizational savvy or political maneuvering, but in the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. The miracles authenticated the message, and the wisdom of the message silenced the opposition. When men cannot answer the argument, their next move is often to attack the arguer. This is precisely what happens here. The conflict is not merely intellectual; it is spiritual. They were not just unable to oppose Stephen's logic, but "the Spirit by whom he was speaking."

The Nature of the Accusation

The charge against Stephen is blasphemy, specifically "blasphemous words against Moses and God" (v. 11). This is a calculated and inflammatory charge. In the first-century Jewish context, Moses represented the Law, the very foundation of their covenant life, and God's presence was uniquely associated with the Temple. The false witnesses distill the charge: "This man never ceases speaking words against this holy place and the Law" (v. 13). They then provide a distorted kernel of truth, claiming Stephen said "this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us" (v. 14). This was, of course, a malicious twisting of Jesus' own words about destroying the temple of His body and raising it in three days. The charge is fundamentally about geography and tradition. They believed God was contained in a particular building and that their relationship with Him was managed by a particular set of customs. Stephen, like Jesus before him, was teaching that God cannot be kept in a box. The new covenant in Christ's blood meant that the presence of God was no longer fixed to a location in Jerusalem but was now present in the person of Jesus and poured out on all His people by the Spirit. This was not an alteration of Moses' customs but their ultimate fulfillment, a truth the Sanhedrin was violently unwilling to hear.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Right away, Luke establishes that Stephen is operating on a divine frequency. The phrase "full of grace and power" is not just a description of a nice fellow. This is the language of supernatural gifting. Grace here is not just unmerited favor in a soteriological sense, but the manifest enablement of God for service. This grace resulted in power, the ability to do "great wonders and signs." Miracles in the book of Acts are never for show; they are authenticating markers of the truth of the gospel. They are God's exclamation points. Stephen, chosen to wait tables, is shown to have a ministry that extends far beyond logistics. This is a crucial point: in the kingdom of God, faithfulness in the small things, like caring for widows, does not preclude God from using you in mighty ways. The Spirit is not compartmentalized.

v. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and were arguing with Stephen.

Opposition inevitably arises when the gospel is proclaimed with power. Here we see a coalition of the aggrieved. These are Hellenistic Jews, men from various parts of the Roman Empire, likely former slaves or descendants of slaves who had gained their freedom. They had their own synagogue, a place where they could maintain their Jewish identity while living in a cosmopolitan world. It is significant that the first organized resistance to this new Spirit-filled movement comes not from the Jerusalem establishment, but from fellow Diaspora Jews. They should have been the most open to a message that transcended the strict geographical boundaries of Judea, but instead, they are its fiercest opponents. It is highly probable that Saul of Tarsus, being from Cilicia, was a member of this very synagogue and a ringleader in this dispute. Their pride in their heritage and their understanding of the Law became the very thing that blinded them to the Messiah.

v. 10 But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

Here is the heart of the conflict. It was an argument they could not win. Notice the dual source of Stephen's effectiveness: "the wisdom and the Spirit." It was not just clever rhetoric or superior debating points. It was divine wisdom, articulated in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus promised. When you stand for the truth, God shows up and speaks through you. Their inability to "oppose" or "withstand" this was a source of profound humiliation for them. Men who pride themselves on their learning and piety do not take well to being publicly silenced by a deacon. When intellectual pride is cornered by divine truth, it often lashes out in rage. They could not refute the message, so they determined to destroy the messenger.

v. 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

Having lost the public debate, they retreat to underhanded tactics. "Secretly induced" is the language of conspiracy. They suborned perjury. This is how corrupt religious systems operate when threatened. They cannot fight with truth, so they manufacture lies. The charge is potent: blasphemy against Moses and God. They put Moses first because his authority was the immediate and visible foundation of their entire social and religious structure. To speak against Moses was to speak against the Law. To speak against the Law was to speak against the God who gave it. This was the same playbook used against Jesus. When you cannot answer a man's arguments, you misrepresent them and then charge him with a capital crime.

v. 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came up to him, dragged him away, and brought him to the Sanhedrin.

The conspiracy now moves to public incitement. They "stirred up" the crowd. This is mob manipulation. A lie, repeated loudly and confidently, can easily sway the unthinking. They successfully agitated three groups: the common people, the elders (the lay leadership), and the scribes (the theological experts). Once the mob was whipped into a frenzy, they seized Stephen. The verb "dragged him away" implies violence and a complete disregard for due process. They then brought him to the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court, to give their kangaroo court a veneer of legitimacy. This is what happens when a culture's leadership rejects God; the institutions of justice become instruments of injustice.

v. 13 And they put forward false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases speaking words against this holy place and the Law;

Now the formal, perjured testimony begins. The charge is refined. It's not a one-time offense; he "never ceases" this assault. This is a slander designed to paint Stephen as a relentless revolutionary, an enemy of their entire way of life. The two pillars of their identity are named: "this holy place" (the Temple) and "the Law." To the first-century Jew in Jerusalem, these were everything. The Temple was the place where God dwelt, the center of the universe. The Law was the transcript of God's character and the constitution of their nation. To speak against either was treason of the highest order.

v. 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

Here is the twisted truth. Jesus did speak of the Temple's destruction, but He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:19) and prophesying the historical destruction that would come upon Jerusalem as a judgment for rejecting Him (Luke 21:20-24). And the gospel does "alter the customs" of Moses, not by abolishing them, but by fulfilling them. The sacrificial system is obsolete because the final sacrifice has been made. The ceremonial laws are set aside because the reality they pointed to has arrived. But the false witnesses present this fulfillment as a hostile takeover. They add a contemptuous sneer by using the title "Jesus the Nazarene," emphasizing His backwater origins. Their charge reveals their core error: a carnal, earthbound understanding of God's kingdom. They had mistaken the shadows for the substance.

v. 15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel.

This is a stunning conclusion to the scene. As this council of powerful men, filled with murderous rage, stares down their prisoner, they see something entirely unexpected. God gives them a sign, a testimony in the very countenance of the accused. His face was not contorted with fear or anger, but shone with a supernatural calm and heavenly glory. It was "like the face of an angel." This is a direct parallel to Moses, whose face shone with the reflected glory of God after he had been in His presence on Sinai (Exodus 34:29-35). The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. They are accusing Stephen of blaspheming Moses, and God makes Stephen's face shine like Moses' face. God was visually authenticating His servant, showing the Sanhedrin that this man, not they, was the one who was truly in communion with the God of Israel. They were looking at a man filled with the glory of God, and yet, in their spiritual blindness, all they could see was a blasphemer worthy of death.