It is almost as though Stephen has woven a spell over his hostile audience, mesmerising them with his storytelling. He has, it seems, been able to talk uninterrupted for some time. And then he unleashes the wrath of God and everything goes crazy (vs 51–53).

The man seems to have had a death wish! What was he thinking telling these powerful leaders who have him in their clutches that they have uncircumcised ears and stiff necks, that they are disobedient to God?

I know what he wasn’t thinking: he wasn’t thinking about how to save his own life. The astonishing truth that he had grasped was that, in Christ, death becomes an irrelevance. The process of dying can be gruesome (especially if you are stoned) but it is a gateway to heaven, not the end (vs 55,56,59).

Many people fear death. It is a great unknown, ‘the final frontier’. It is perceived as the ultimate enemy, a bleak and final full stop. But if we belong to Jesus we don’t need to be afraid. Jesus defeated death on the cross and he is waiting to welcome us home.

‘I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back!’¹ 

A speech like Stephen’s could only have one end: he courted death and death came, as Barclay points out.² The members of the Sanhedrin covered their ears, dragged him out of the city and stoned him. Stephen’s death resembles the crucifixion of Jesus, his last words echoing Jesus’ own words from the cross.³ 

Stephen was the first of many Christian martyrs throughout the centuries. The word comes from the Greek verb martyreo (to bear witness) – and the martyrs gave witness at the expense of their lives. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in the second century, had been instructed by the apostles, especially John. He served faithfully and opposed heresy of any form. He was asked in his old age by the Roman authorities to disown Christ and say ‘Caesar is Lord’, but he refused, saying: ‘Eighty-six years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I forsake him now?’ He was burned at the stake in ad 155, a voice from heaven calling out, ‘Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.’  

Many have witnessed for Christ by their death in the past two centuries. The missionary Graham Staines, working among people with leprosy in Bihar, was burnt with his two sons in his car by Hindu fundamentalists some years ago. His wife Gladys forgave the murderers, and many people said, ‘If this is Christianity, I want to know it.’ Nokseng, a Garo tribesman in North East India who accepted Christ, was asked to ‘Reject the faith in this foreign God’ by the village chief. He replied: ‘I have decided to follow Jesus. There is no turning back!’ His two sons and his wife were killed in front of him but he refused to recant and was killed. His martyrdom led the Garos to become Christians. His statement has become a popular chorus. Will you stand for Christ whatever persecution you face?

We need faith and courage to follow Jesus no matter the cost.

¹ Chorus  ² William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles, 1976  ³ Luke 23:34