The Radiance of the Real Thing: Acts 6:8-15
Introduction: The Curators of the Museum
One of the great ironies of a fallen world is how often the curators of a museum come to despise the very thing they are supposed to be preserving. Men build monuments to dead prophets, polishing the marble and maintaining the velvet ropes, while simultaneously persecuting the living prophets who walk among them in the same spirit. They honor the memory of the man, but they hate what the man actually stood for. They are zealous for the institution, for the customs, for the traditions, but they are utterly hostile to the living reality that gave birth to those things.
This is the dynamic we see at play as the stage is being set for the martyrdom of Stephen. The Sanhedrin, the guardians of the Mosaic tradition, are about to murder a man who is the living embodiment of a true disciple of Moses. They are the curators of the Moses museum, and they cannot stand it when someone shows up who actually looks and sounds like Moses. They are incensed by the real thing because it exposes their entire enterprise as a hollow fraud.
As we come to this passage, the church in Jerusalem has just dealt with an internal problem concerning the distribution of food to widows, and they did so with wisdom and grace. Out of that solution came the ordination of seven men, deacons, one of whom was Stephen. But it quickly becomes apparent that God had more in mind for Stephen than simply waiting on tables. He was a man full of grace and power, and the Spirit of God was upon him in a way that could not be contained. And when the Spirit of God is on the move, the world, particularly the religious world, will not be able to leave it alone.
What follows is a textbook case of how the world deals with a Spirit-filled man. When they cannot defeat him in honest debate, they resort to lies. When they cannot answer his wisdom, they stir up the mob. And when they are confronted with a holiness that shines, they call it blasphemy. This is the playbook of the ungodly, and we see it run here against Stephen, just as it was run against the Lord Jesus. And we should not be surprised when it is run against us.
The Text
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 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. But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 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. And they put forward false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases speaking words against this holy place and the Law; 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.” And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel.
(Acts 6:8-15 LSB)
The Uncontainable Deacon (v. 8)
We begin with the character and ministry of Stephen.
"And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people." (Acts 6:8)
Stephen was chosen as a deacon to solve a practical, administrative problem. He was selected for his good repute and for being full of the Spirit and of wisdom. But God's callings are never one-dimensional. A man who is faithful in a small thing, like ensuring widows are fed, proves he is ready for greater things. The grace and power that made him a good deacon were the same grace and power that made him a mighty evangelist. There is no rigid, bureaucratic distinction in the kingdom of God between the "spiritual" work of preaching and the "practical" work of service. It is all service, and it is all empowered by the same Spirit.
So Stephen, this deacon, begins to do "great wonders and signs among the people." This is a direct echo of the ministry of the apostles. More than that, it is a direct echo of the ministry of Moses. Miracles were the divine authentication of Moses's mission before Pharaoh and before Israel. Now, here is Stephen, doing the same things. God is making it abundantly clear who the true heir of the Mosaic ministry is. It is not the men in the big hats sitting in the seat of Moses, but the humble servant of Christ filled with the Spirit of God.
The Inevitable Conflict (v. 9-10)
Such a powerful ministry cannot go unnoticed or unopposed. The conflict begins, not with the pagans, but with the religious insiders.
"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. But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking." (Acts 6:9-10 LSB)
These were Hellenistic Jews, Greek-speaking Jews from foreign lands, just like Stephen. They were former slaves or descendants of slaves who had gained their freedom. You might think they would be sympathetic. But religious and ethnic identity, apart from Christ, is a hotbed of pride. Notice the mention of Cilicia. The chief city of Cilicia was Tarsus, the hometown of a very zealous young man named Saul. It is almost certain that Saul was a part of this synagogue and was one of the men who first debated Stephen. He was a man who, by his own admission, was "zealous... concerning the traditions of my fathers" (Gal. 1:14).
They rose up to argue, but they were completely outmatched. And Luke tells us why. It was not that Stephen was simply a better debater or had a higher IQ. They were unable to oppose "the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking." This is a direct fulfillment of the promise Jesus gave His disciples: "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict" (Luke 21:15). Stephen was not speaking on his own authority or out of his own intellect. He was a vessel, and what his opponents were truly fighting against was the Holy Spirit. This is a terrifying position to be in.
The Playbook of the Liar (v. 11-14)
When you lose a debate fair and square, you have two options. You can repent and admit you were wrong, or you can double down and cheat. The enemies of the gospel always choose the latter.
"Then they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.' 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." (Acts 6:11-12 LSB)
Unable to win with arguments, they turned to slander. They "secretly induced" men, which is to say they suborned them, likely with bribes, to lie. This is the tactic of the devil, who is the father of lies. And notice the charge: blasphemy. This is the ultimate religious smear. It is what they accused Jesus of. The greatest blasphemers in the world are always the first to accuse the righteous of blasphemy. They charged Stephen with speaking against Moses and God. This was a capital offense. They were not playing games; they were preparing for a judicial murder.
And they were effective politicians. They "stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes." They created a public relations crisis, a manufactured outrage. This is how godless revolutions work. You whip up the mob with lies, and then you use the chaos of the mob to seize your target. They came upon him, dragged him away, and brought him before the Sanhedrin, the same court that condemned Jesus.
"And they put forward false witnesses who said, 'This man never ceases speaking words against this holy place and the Law; 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.'" (Acts 6:13-14 LSB)
The false witnesses now refine the charge. It is against the Temple ("this holy place") and the Law. The accusation is a twisted version of the truth. Did Jesus speak of destroying the temple? Yes, He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:19). The gospel does not destroy the temple, it fulfills it and replaces it with Christ Himself. Did the gospel alter the customs of Moses? Yes, in the same way that an oak tree alters an acorn. The customs were shadows and types; Christ is the reality they pointed to. The charge was that Stephen was an enemy of Israel's heritage, when in fact he was proclaiming the glorious fulfillment of that heritage. The lie is always a parasite on the truth.
The Face of an Angel (v. 15)
The scene is now set. Stephen is surrounded by hostile faces, false witnesses, and prejudiced judges. He is on trial for his life. And in this moment, God gives a stunning, visible testimony to the truth.
"And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15 LSB)
What does this mean? It does not mean he suddenly looked soft or effeminate. In Scripture, angels are terrifying warriors, agents of God's power and judgment. This is a direct parallel to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai after speaking with God. His face was so radiant with the reflected glory of God that the people could not bear to look at him (Exodus 34:29-30). Here is the divine irony in its fullness. The men accusing Stephen of blaspheming Moses are confronted with a man whose face is shining just like Moses' face did. God is holding up a giant, flashing sign in the middle of the courtroom that says, "THIS IS MY MAN. THIS IS THE TRUE DISCIPLE OF MOSES."
They are accusing him of being against God, and his face is shining with the very glory of God. It is a moment of profound, supernatural testimony. They are given one last, gracious, visible proof of their error before they bring down judgment on their own heads. The radiance on Stephen's face was not just a sign of his personal holiness; it was a sign of their corporate blindness. They could see the light, but they loved the darkness.
Conclusion: The Unstoppable Gospel
This scene sets up the great sermon of Stephen in the next chapter, which will seal his fate. But we must see the pattern here. The gospel advances, and the world reacts with hostility. The world cannot win with reason, so it resorts to slander and violence. The charges are always religious in nature: blasphemy, heresy, disturbing the peace of the religious establishment.
But in the midst of it all, God bears witness to His servants. He gives them a wisdom the world cannot refute and a peace the world cannot understand. That peace was so profound in Stephen that it shone from his face. He was not afraid. He was not intimidated. He was full of grace, power, and the Holy Spirit. He was in the presence of his enemies, but he was also, and more truly, in the presence of God.
And we must not miss the fact that a young man named Saul was likely in that room, or at least nearby. He heard the arguments. He saw the face. He consented to the murder. But the wisdom of Stephen, the radiance of his face, and the grace of his martyrdom planted a seed in the hard soil of Saul's heart. God was using this apparent defeat to prepare His greatest apostle. The blood of the martyrs is indeed the seed of the church.
Therefore, when we are opposed, when we are slandered, when false charges are brought against us for the sake of the gospel, we should not be surprised. We are in good company. Our task is to be like Stephen: full of grace and power, speaking the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, and trusting God to make our faces shine, not with our own righteousness, but with the reflected glory of the one we serve. For the man who sees the face of Christ will have a face that the world cannot bear to see.