Stephen's Martyrdom

Painting of Stephen (1476)

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people (Acts 6:8).

Stephen was a young man who had a zeal for the Lord and wanted to share the good news with others. He was one of the seven deacons appointed by the apostles to distribute charity to the needy in the early church. He drew the attention of the religious leaders, just as Christ had, and was brought to trial for blasphemy. After a long discourse where Stephen defended the faith of those who followed Christ, he was taken outside the city and stoned to death.

And they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Acts 7:58-59).


Saul of Tarsus was among those in the crowd watching Stephen's stoning. At the time, he had his own zealous passion, but it burned for persecuting this new group he considered heretics to the Jewish faith. Saul even watched over the cloaks of the men who stoned Stephen that day. Yet, one can't help but wonder what effect this event had on Saul, a man of great intelligence who was headed to become one of the top leaders in Judaism. Did it prepare the way for his coming experience and conversion on the Damascus Road?

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word (Acts 8:4).

Stephen's death was far-reaching. One of the things that happened because of Stephen's death, is that the gospel began to quickly spread outside of Jerusalem. After the stoning of this innocent man and Saul's continued persecution, many who followed Christ left the city and went to other areas, taking their faith and teachings with them. Philip is one such man. He left Jerusalem and went to Samaria where he continued to teach about Jesus. He was there when word came for him to go and meet the Ethiopian, who was converted and then took the gospel back to his country. This is just one of many examples of how the new faith grew rapidly. It could happen today, too, if we shared the gospel as earnestly.

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