But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Stephen stood abandoned by every earthly support, encircled by enemies, yet he turned his eyes from the world to God the Judge of life and death. His gaze upward was not empty hope; Christ appeared to him at once, arming him with the Spirit's power so that even facing death, he triumphed gloriously. We are too earthbound to see as he did, our hearts fail at the mere rumor of danger because we have forgotten where our strength truly lies.
AI summary
The Sanhedrin were cut to the heart with rage, not sorrow, hell itself broken loose in human form, malice in perfection. They could not answer Stephen's arguments, so fury consumed them. Their wonderful discomposure stands against his wonderful composure: here is corruption in its full strength.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 7:54-60
The crowd stopped their ears with their fingers, a studied gesture of rejecting blasphemy, a practice the Jews had a rule for. Then they rushed at him all at once, without waiting for the sanhedrim's sentence, driven by the zealot's rage to kill what they deemed profane.
AI summary