Acts 6 - Organization
Remember Whose You Are
I. The fellowship of believers hit a speed bump.
Two forms of benevolence were practiced by the Jews. Every Friday relief officers would collect money for the poor in a box (kupah) and distribute enough for fourteen meals to those resident poor in the community. The second form was for poor strangers whose presence was temporary. The relief officers would go house to house to fill a tray (tambuy) with food and drink from which they would distribute to the poor. The description Luke gives here implies that the church had adopted a combination of these methods for “daily” distribution of food to widows.
Trouble began when some of the Grecian widows were neglected. As a result complaints came against the Hebraic Jews and old suspicions were reopened. The “Twelve” took action. They gathered together all of the disciples and explained that it would be wrong for the apostles to neglect preaching the word of God in order to “wait (διακονεῖν, diakonein) on tables.” The apostles should rather be engaged in “prayer and the ministry (διακονία, diakonia) of the word.” The implication is that all gifts and ministries within the church are subservient to “the supremacy of the ministry of the Word.”
Know your purpose in the Kingdom
Fulfill your purpose in the Kingdom
For this reason the apostles encouraged the congregation to become involved in the solution to the problem. “Choose seven men from among you” so that this ministry may be continued. Though the apostles had the authority to appoint these men themselves, they carefully provided for the involvement of the whole church. No details are given as to what method was used for the selection.
Emphasis was placed, however, on the quality of men to be chosen. By now the language of “filling” is familiar in Acts (see 2:4; 4:8, 31; 5:3). The apostles instructed the believers to choose seven men known to be “full of the Spirit and wisdom.” This phrase suggests a lifestyle in which the Holy Spirit’s presence was obvious to fellow believers. They were men of faith, boldness, and holiness. The term “wisdom” indicates that they also were men who had skills in ministry and, perhaps, problem-solving.
The congregation was satisfied with the proposal of the apostles. The words “they chose” refer to the nearest antecedent, the “whole group.” The choice of these leaders was left to the church, but the apostles also had a role. Their job was to “turn (καθίστημι, kathistēmi) this responsibility over” to the new leaders. The Greek word includes the idea of “appoint” or “approve.” In addition the apostles completed the process of selection when they “prayed and laid their hands on” the new leaders. Though the text does not call the seven “deacons,” the use of the verb διακονεῖν (diakonein) to describe their work may imply that these were the first deacons.
Be willing to serve in the Kingdom
Seven names are given for the men chosen. That all of them are Greek names does not imply that they were Gentiles or Hellenistic Jews from outside of Palestine. Jewish residents of Palestine often had Greek names. The names do suggest, however, that these men were on the Grecian side of the present dispute.
Of the seven, only Stephen and Philip will be heard from again in Acts. Nicholas was “from Antioch” and “a convert to Judaism.” This mention of Antioch, a city that became a center for Christian activity, introduces for Luke an interest that will appear again in Acts (11:19–21). To call Nicholas a convert was to say that he was not Jewish by birth, but from a pagan background. His conversion to Judaism had occurred before his conversion to Christianity.
Luke adds at this point a summary of the church’s progress. The word of God “spread” in the sense that its proclamation reached farther and farther. Luke uses the imperfect tense (“was growing”) to indicate a continuous growth during this period. The same is true with the next two verbs—“increased” and “became obedient.” The numbers “were increasing” continuously and at the same time many priests “were becoming” obedient to the faith. Believers were witnessing growth in the church almost moment by moment.
Faith Principle 2 - Love (as well as faith, fellowship, discipleship, and salvation) is Kingdom service, and service requires work.
II. “A man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”
Stephen’s story is resumed with a description of his provocative ministry. He was “full of God’s grace” (see 6:3) and powerfully proclaimed the gospel. The Spirit made himself known through Stephen’s ministry in the form of “great wonders and miraculous signs.” Here is the first instance in Acts where miracles are mentioned in connection with the ministry of someone other than an apostle. It is not a coincidence that in 6:6 is the statement that the apostles “laid their hands” on Stephen and the other men chosen by the church.
Opposition once again surfaced as a result of the church’s ministry. Unlike previous resistance, this opposition came from Jews who were not connected with the Sadducees and the temple leaders. The “Synagogue of the Freedmen” was the source of the antagonism. Out of the many synagogues in Jerusalem, this one was attended by Hellenistic Jews from the Diaspora.
The synagogue was usually a center for the social, the educational, and the religious life of the Jewish community. Originally synagogues were houses of prayer. They were influenced more by the Pharisees than by the Sadducees, whose major interest was in the operation of the temple.
“Freedmen” in the first century were slaves or descendants of slaves who had gained their release. The name of this synagogue implies that the freedmen were Jews who previously had lived in Cyrene or Alexandria in Northern Africa, or in the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. Quite frequently Jews moved from these areas around the Roman Empire and took up residence in Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul, for example, was a Cilician Jew who may well have participated with this synagogue. The Jews in this synagogue found Stephen’s message highly offensive. From the charges they brought to the Sanhedrin it appears that their objections centered on whether the temple and the law were relevant in light of the gospel of Jesus. They took Stephen’s message to imply that “this holy place” and the law of Moses were no longer valid components in God’s dealings with his people. Stephen had probably emphasized that salvation is to be found in Christ alone, not in the Old Testament system of sacrifices. His message may well have carried a universalistic theme.
When their arguments failed to adequately refute Stephen’s message, these Jews resorted to stirring up “the people and the elders and the teachers of the law.” Here for the first time opposition to the Christians came from the people, as well as the temple authorities. The Sanhedrin became involved and brought Stephen in for a hearing. Staring at Stephen, the Sanhedrin detected a man unafraid of the powers opposing the gospel. Something about his appearance seemed to say that his witness had come from the realm of the angels themselves. Stephen looked like a man who had been in the presence of God.