ACC ~ Acts 7 v54 - 60

OVERVIEW:

Stephen sees Christ in his body standing at God’s right hand (THEODORET, BEDE) as an encouragement and as a sign of his reward for his fidelity (ARATOR). Christ stands as one who does battle and gives help (BEDE, AMBROSE), and this vision does not contradict the creed (AUGUSTINE) where he sits as one who judges (BEDE, AMBROSE). Stephen’s imitation of the one who paved the way to resurrection is not so much a physical copy but a spiritual one (IRENAEUS), one that teaches what life, in all its paradoxes, is (ARATOR), and what spirit of forgiveness and self-offering we should express toward those who would kill us (CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE). Death here is not an end but a beginning of something greater or worse (CHRYSOSTOM, ARATOR).

7:55 | Stephen Saw the Glory of God

IN THE FORM OF A BODY. THEODORET OF CYR: The divine nature is invisible, but the thrice blessed Stephen said that he saw the Lord, so even after the resurrection the Lord’s body is a body, and it was seen by the victorious Stephen, since the divine nature cannot be seen. DIALOGUE (DEMONSTRATIONS BY SYLLOGISMS) 11.

7:56 | The Heavens Opened

HIS ENDURANCE WAS STRENGTHENED. BEDE: Since Christ the Lord was the perfect son of both God and man, why is it that the blessed martyr preferred to call him the “Son of man” rather than the Son of God? It would seem that he could have offered him greater glory if he had chosen to call him the Son of God rather than the Son of man—unless by this testimony the infidelity of the Jews could be confounded, for they remembered that they had crucified a man and that they had not chosen to believe that he was God. Therefore, to strengthen the blessed martyr’s endurance the doors of the heavenly kingdom are opened and, so that the innocent man being stoned may not stumble to the ground, the crucified God-man appears crowned in heaven. Hence, because to stand is proper to one who does battle or to one who gives help, he fittingly saw standing at God’s right hand the one whom he had as [his] helper among the men who were persecuting him. And it does not seem inconsistent that Mark describes him as sitting at God’s right hand, which is the posture of judging, for “now he judges all things” invisibly, and “at the end he will come” as the visible “judge of all.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 7.56.

CHRIST WAS NOT HIDDEN FROM HIM. ARATOR: Having the light of his heart he sees the opened heavens, so that what Christ does may not be hidden. [Christ] rises before the martyr. [Stephen] then sees him standing, though our faith is prone rather to honor him as seated. The very Flesh joined to the Thunderer does honor to itself in Stephen. The General in his foreknowledge arms those whom he summons to gifts. Lest anyone here should fight uncertainly, the body is revealed in the citadel of God as a reward to its witness. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

HE FOLLOWED THE PERFECT MARTYR. IRENAEUS: These words [Stephen] said, and he was stoned. In this way he fulfilled the perfect doctrine, copying in every respect the Leader of martyrdom and praying for those who were slaying him, in these words, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Thus were they perfected who knew one and the same God, who from beginning to end was present with humankind in the various dispensations, as the prophet Hosea declares: “I have filled up visions and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets.” AGAINST HERESIES 3.12.13.

HE SAW WITH THE EYES OF FAITH. AUGUSTINE: He now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. We ought to give careful consideration to this fact with the eyes of faith to prevent the impression that he is immovably fixed in any spot so as not be permitted to stand or to walk. For, the fact that St. Stephen said that he saw him standing does not mean that St. Stephen’s vision was distorted or that his statement is at variance with the words of the creed. Far be such a thought, far be such a statement from us! The Lord’s dwelling in lofty and ineffable blessedness has merely been expressed in this way to indicate that he dwells there. SERMON 214.8.

JESUS STOOD AS HIS HELPER. AMBROSE: Jesus stood as a helpmate; he stood as if anxious to help Stephen, his athlete, in the struggle. He stood as though ready to crown his martyr. Let him then stand for you that you may not fear him sitting, for he sits when he judges. … He sits to judge, he stands to give judgment, and he judges the imperfect but gives judgment among the gods. LETTER 59 (63).

7:58 | The Death of Stephen

LIKE CHRIST, HE SUFFERED OUTSIDE THE GATE. BEDE: The Lord too, who “chose” us “out of the world” for his heavenly kingdom and glory, suffered outside the gate, like Stephen, who, as though he were a stranger to the world, was stoned outside the city. For he had no permanent city here, but with his whole heart he sought the city to come. And, in accordance with the vicissitudes of events, the martyr directed the gaze of his pure heart to heaven, while the stiff-necked persecutor stretched out his hands toward the stones. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 7.58.

OUT OF REBELLION THEY HURLED STONES. ARATOR: Insane, rebellious Judea, you hurl stones against Stephen, you who will always be stony because of your hard crime. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

GOD’S POWER WROUGHT IN PAUL. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice with what accuracy he narrates all that concerns Paul, to show you that the action was divine. After all this, not only did Paul not believe, but he even sought him with a thousand hands. This is why it says, “And Saul approved of his killing.” HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 18.

A JUST REWARD FOR ALL. ARATOR: The savage men lay down their garments at the feet of Saul, what the Hebrew calls hell. Both sides now decide to declare what they deserve from this [martyrdom] when the martyr seeks heaven, the executioners “hell.” The first circumstance [of martyrdom] reveals and makes as an example what flows from this fountain to one engaged in such a struggle; thus Tartarus quickly comes upon those who commit murder, while heaven lies open for the dying. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

7:59 | Receive My Spirit

GOD CALLS THE PEOPLE THROUGH SIGNS. CHRYSOSTOM: This is the reason why his face was also glorified. For God who is merciful wished to make their plots the means of recalling them to himself. And look how many signs there came to be. “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him,” again outside the city, as in the case of Christ. And in death itself, confession and preaching. “And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’” He did this to show them that he is not perishing and also to teach them. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 18.

TO FALL IS TO RISE. ARATOR: O martyr, embark on struggles which will cause happy deaths, where punishment is glory and to fall is a rising, and by slaughter is born immortality embracing the rewards of everlasting life. Lo, to have merited thus to die was the beginning of a blessed life without end. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

7:60 | Do Not Hold This Sin Against Them

FREEDOM FROM WRATH. CHRYSOSTOM: This is the boldness of speech that belongs to a man who is carrying the cross. Let us then also imitate this. For although it is not a time for war, it is always the time for boldness. “For I spoke,” he says, “in your testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed.” If we happen to be among Gentiles, let us silence them likewise, without anger and without harshness. For if we do this with anger, it is no longer boldness but appears rather as raw passion. If, however, it is done with gentleness, that is true boldness. For in one and the same thing success and failure cannot possibly go together. Boldness of speech is success; anger is failure. Therefore, if we should aspire to boldness, we must be free from anger, in case anyone should attribute our words to the latter. For no matter how just your words may be, when you speak with anger, you ruin everything. This is true no matter how boldly you speak or how fairly you admonish—in short, no matter what you do. See how free from anger this man was when he spoke to them. He did not treat them with any harshness but reminded them of the words of the prophets. Notice that there was no anger, for in his terrible suffering he prayed for them, saying, “Do not hold this sin against them.” Thus it was not in anger that he spoke these words but in grief and sorrow for their sakes. As indeed it says of his appearance, “they saw his face that it was the face of an angel,” so that they might believe. Let us then be free from anger. The Holy Spirit does not dwell where anger is and cursed is the wrathful. Nothing wholesome can proceed from where anger issued forth. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 17.

HE PRAYED FOR HIS PERSECUTORS. AUGUSTINE: And in the Acts of the Apostles, blessed Stephen prays for those by whom he is being stoned, because they had not as yet believed in Christ and were not contending against that universal grace. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.22.73.

HE KNELT FOR HIS ENEMIES. BEDE: For himself he prayed standing up; for his enemies he knelt down. Because their iniquity was so great it called out for the greater remedy of falling upon his knees. And marvelous was the virtue of the blessed martyr who was so inflamed with zeal that he openly reproached his captors for their fault in lacking faith and burned so with love that even at his death he prayed for his murderers. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 7.60.

THE PERFECTION OF CHARITY. AUGUSTINE: He showed his love for his murderers, in that he died for them. … That is the perfection of love. Love is perfect in him whom it makes ready to die for his brothers; but it is never perfect as soon as it is born. It is born that it may be perfected. Born, it is nourished: nourished, it is strengthened: strengthened, it is made perfect. And when it has reached perfection, how does it speak? “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. My desire was to be set free and to be with Christ; for that is by far the best. But to abide in the flesh is needful for your sake.” He was willing to live for their sakes, for whom he was ready to die. HOMILIES ON 1 JOHN 5.4.