And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Stephen joins love for his enemies with faith in Christ; nothing is harder than to forgive those who would destroy us, yet he does it kneeling, and his prayer was not in vain, Paul himself testifies that this sin was not laid to all their charges.
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
Only Christian faith enables a man to pray forgiveness for his murderers at the moment of death. His kneeling was deliberate; his address to Jesus as Lord shows us we may pray to Him in our deepest afflictions and approach Him so in health, preparing now for what we cannot prepare for on the dying bed.
AI summary