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From: Acts 6:8-15

Stephen’s Arrest

[8] And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the
people. [9] Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen
(as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those
from Cilicia and Asia, arose and disputed with Stephen. [10] But they could not
withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. [11] Then they secret-
ly instigated men, who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words a-
gainst Moses and God.” [12] And they stirred up the people and the elders and
the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him, and brought him before the
council, [13] and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to
speak words against this holy place and the law; [14] for we have heard him say
that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs
which Moses delivered to us.” [15] And gazing at him, all who sat in the council
saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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Commentary:

8-14. From the text it would appear that Stephen preached mainly among Helle-
nist Jews; this was his own background. Reference is made to synagogues of
Jews of the Dispersion (Diaspora). These synagogues were used for worship and
as meeting places. The very fact that these Hellenist Jews were living in the Holy
City shows what devotion they had to the Law of their forebears.

No longer is it only the Sanhedrin who are opposed to the Gospel; other Jews
have been affected by misunderstanding and by misrepresentation of the Chris-
tian message.

The charge of blasphemy — also made against our Lord — was the most serious
that could be made against a Jew. As happened in Jesus’ case, the accusers
here resort to producing false witnesses, who twist Stephen’s words and accuse
him of a crime the penalty for which is death.

15. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this verse, recalls that the face of Mo-
ses, when he comes down from Sinai (cf. Exodus 34:29-35), reflected the glory
of God and likewise made the people afraid: “It was grace, it was the glory of Mo-
ses. I think that God clothed him in this splendor because perhaps he had some-
thing to say, and in order that his very appearance would strike terror into them.
For it is possible, very possible, for figures full of Heavenly grace to be attractive
to friendly eyes and terrifying to the eyes of enemies” (”Hom. on Acts”, 15).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.