They Know Not What They Do

Introduction

(SLIDE) Each week, as we’ve moved further and further into the events of Acts, we’ve witnessed a growing tension between the Sanhedrin (the patriarchal leaders of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem) and the leaders of a new and rapidly-growing movement of believers in Christ.

Today, we will all witness a climax in the action up to this point, and one of my favorite scenes from the entirety of scripture to boot. (Give Noble a nod for letting you steal all the thunder after he’s done all the hard work of building to this point)

This famous scene from the account compiled by Luke is expansive in its theological implications, and could probably be the subject of a month-long study all on its own.

But seeing that my options are pretty much limited to covering all of chapter 7 in one sermon or letting Noble have this scene… (SLIDE) we’re going to cover some ground today, folks!

Today, we are going to (somewhat) quickly cover Stephen’s brilliant recapitulation of the Hebrew scriptures, and we will be focusing on some very important points of theology

Two of these points could very possibly be said to define both Judaism and Christianity at the time of Stephen’s speech, while a third would forever separate these belief systems.

these concepts defined Christianity in the contemporary context and still form the foundations (or… perhaps roots) of what we believe and why we believe it!

(SLIDE)God has ALWAYS provided deliverance for his people through the form of chosen messengers (prophets), and Israel has always resented and persecuted the prophets for delivering God’s truth to them.

(SLIDE) God’s desire has ALWAYS been to walk in close spiritual relationship with his people, and his people have ALWAYS become more concerned with the work of their hands than with that relationship.

BIG BIG POINT here: The scriptures have ALWAYS been pointing to Jesus (we call this Christology), and the Sanhedrin’s myopic concern with maintaining their authority has caused them to be on the wrong side of God’s great plan for their generation.

Keep these three main points in mind as we progress through this passage, and prepare your heart for the potentially daunting implications that these three points still have for us today. Let’s pray, and let’s get into this!!

1) A (very) Brief History of an Entire Belief System

(SLIDE) Ok, so let’s set the scene here again:

There has been a growing tension between the Sanhedrin and a growing new sect of Christians ever since the day of Pentecost

The Christians have been growing at an alarming rate, and the Jewish religious leadership is being pressed to DO SOMETHING about these crazies! Remember the Jews are already dealing with a ruling body of foreigners in the Romans that already undercut their political authority (which very logically seems to be related to their spiritual authority)

I point out all of this to say that I want you to enter into this passage with as much sympathy for the Jewish leaders as you can muster! They’re not having a good time!!!

And here comes Stephen, some up-jumped waiter, who starts performing signs and miracles out in public and then proceeds to tell off members from the Synagogue of Freedmen who try to put him in his place! The audacity! The Temerity!

And so Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin, and these charges are laid at his feet (SLIDE to Acts 6:13-14)

He is continually speaking words against the Temple and the Law (Blasphemy)

(SLIDE) (really an elaboration of point A) He is claiming that Jesus will destroy the Temple and change the customs of Moses!

Is there anything about these claims that strike you as interesting with the benefit of hindsight? They totally do happen! The Temple is destroyed during the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (Which Jesus very apparently predicts in Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2, Luke 21:5-6.

Mark 13:1-2 “And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.””

Is Jesus threatening to destroy the temple here? NO! Would Stephen be threatening to destroy the temple if he was recounting these prophetic statements made by Jesus? NO!

Ok let’s get into Chapter 7:

(SLIDE) Acts 7:1-8 “And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran(SLIDE), and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living (SLIDE). Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. (SLIDE) ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ (SLIDE) And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.”

(SLIDE) Well, that’s not really what they asked, but ok!

I want you to notice the rhetorical genius of Stephen at the beginning of his speech here:

(SLIDE) He refers to the Sanhedrin in ingratiating and respectful terms (Brothers, Fathers verse 2)

He connects himself to the group now standing in judgment of him (OUR Father verse 2)

He only mentions the first half of our big points in this introduction (doesn’t even bring Jesus into the picture yet):

God chooses Abraham from among his family and gives him a divine revelation, and then delivers him into the land that is promised to him (though he will not personally inherit one acre).

Note the inclusive language here, but also note the very subtle point Stephen is already making with his opening statements:

Notice that God is very apparently working outside of the confines or the authority of any existing tradition or temple

(SLIDE) Notice that God’s primary motive in delivering the Israelites from their oppressors is that they come to worship him, or in other words, have a loving relationship with him(verse 7)

Stephen is loosening the council up and drawing them in close for a massive uppercut! Let’s read on!

(SLIDE) Acts 7:9-11 ““And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household (SLIDE). Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food.”

Stephen is still being subtle so far, but notice that little jab he throws about the patriarchs and their mistreatment of Joseph.

Who is Stephen addressing? The Patriarchal figures of the Temple in his own time!

Acts 7:12-13 “But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.”

Anyone notice an interesting little note made by Stephen here in verse 13? Joseph had to make himself known to the Patriarchs, They didn’t recognize that he was their own brother!

Acts 7:14-22 “And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem (SLIDE). “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph (SLIDE). He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house (SLIDE), and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.”

(SLIDE) In this section of the passage, Stephen begins to zero-in on the Sanhedrin, he brings the story to Moses and decides to camp out here on perhaps the most influential figure for the Temple cult of Jerusalem at this time.

Can you imagine how dumbfounded the Sanhedrin must be at this juncture of Stephen’s so-called defense?!

They just brought him before the council, accused him of blasphemy and terroristic threats.... and Stephen begins giving them a lecture on the history of the Hebrew faith?!?! I mean, is he even defending himself?!

As it turns out, yes. and no. and yes. Stephen is formulating a rock-solid defense of his theology at the obvious expense of his own well-being! Here we see Stephen giving us a near perfect example of where our own priorities should be as Christians.

They are threatening his physical well-being, but his primary concern is correcting the record for his belief in Jesus. Let’s read on...

Acts 7:23–29 (ESV)

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian (SLIDE). He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ (SLIDE) But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

“He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand”

1) God always provided deliverance for his people, but they did not understand or recognize their deliverer when they met him the first time.

They persecuted and attempted to kill Joseph, and they rejected Moses!

Can you see the pattern developing here?

Acts 7:30–34 (ESV)

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: (SLIDE)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. (SLIDE) I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

(SLIDE-Home) Stephen is choosing to highlight certain details of the Exodus narrative while skipping over certain other details, which should clue us in as readers that the events he is choosing to highlight are important to the theme of his message as a whole.

Notice that he quotes from Exodus 3, where God designates ground in the desert on Mount Sinai as Holy Ground. How do you think this plays into his message for the Sanhedrin? Is it just the ground that is Holy or is it the presence of God that consecrates a land or a people?

I hope you can see how the pressure is building, but this room is about to get waaaay more uncomfortable!

Acts 7:35–39 (ESV)

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush(SLIDE). This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ (SLIDE) This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

God provided deliverance for Israel in the form of chosen messengers (prophets), and Israel has always resented and persecuted the prophets for delivering God’s truth to them.

God’s desire has ALWAYS been to walk in close spiritual relationship with his people, and as we’re about to see, his people have ALWAYS become more concerned with the work of their hands than with that relationship.

(SLIDE) Acts 7:40–41 (ESV)

saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

Rejoicing in the works of their hands?! Can you think of any way that this might apply to the Sanhedrin and the charges they have laid against Stephen?

Doesn’t it seem so odd now that they would charge him with Blasphemy for speaking words against the Temple?? Is the Temple a God? Is the Law of Moses a God??

Have the members of the Sanhedrin, or any single member of the Hebrew faith from the moment Moses walked down that mountain ever perfectly obeyed the Law?!

Acts 7:42–43 (ESV)

But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

“ ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,

during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? (SLIDE)

You took up the tent of Moloch

and the star of your god Rephan,

the images that you made to worship;

and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

This quotation from Amos 5:25-27 begins the climactic swell of Stephen’s speech, and I want you to visualize the looks on the council’s face as Stephen’s voice is rising. I can see their eyes slowly narrowing and their jaws setting and their fists clenching because they have so thoroughly condemned themselves with their actions and their appeal to scriptural authority.

The prophet Amos himself was accused of speaking against Israel and King Jeroboam by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel!

Acts 7:44–50 (ESV)

“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen (SLIDE). Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David (SLIDE), who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon (SLIDE) who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, (SLIDE)

“ ‘Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is the place of my rest?

Did not my hand make all these things?’

(SLIDE- Home)And now Stephen wraps up his surprise bible-study for the Sanhedrin and puts a bow on it, citing Isaiah 66 and bringing the charges laid against him by the Sanhedrin crumbling down atop their own heads.

God has always been most concerned with the hearts of his children!

God makes any place Holy when his Spirit is there!

And just in case you were wondering if Stephen was going to leave the charge of Idolatry against the Sanhedrin that has been implied by his entire discourse up to this point...

(SLIDE) Acts 7:51–53 (ESV)

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you (SLIDE). Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered (SLIDE), you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

(SLIDE) BOOM! Uppercut landed, fight over, the Sanhedrin is down!

Notice how Stephen addresses all three of the big points I mentioned earlier in the conclusion of his address:

(SLIDE) God has always provided prophets to deliver Israel from oppression, and they are still persecuting the prophets (vv.51-53)

(SLIDE) God’s desire has always been a close personal relationship with his people, and they are still most concerned with the works of their hands (vv. 41)

(SLIDE) The Holy Spirit has been foretelling the coming of Christ since the first pages of scripture were written, but they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One (v. 53)

(SLIDE-Home) These verses mark what would be described in rhetorical terms as the peroration (conclusion) of Stephen’s speech, in which all of the principles discussed are applied to the audience, generally with the intent of creating an emotional and enthusiastic response.

Now, if you just so happen to have read this passage before, or if you read the heading above verse 54, you might very well wonder why Stephen would want to evoke such an enthusiastic response from this particular audience!

Why would Stephen throw this uppercut? Why would he lay down his life here?

To find that answer, let’s reconsider the position of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish people at this juncture of the story:

The Patriarchal council of the Sanhedrin are not really the ones in control of Jerusalem at this point.

They operate at the behest and with the blessing of the Romans, who’d rather destroy Jerusalem than see it slip out of their influence (think 70 A.D.)

They’ve experienced the age-old cycles of oppression, deliverance, and apostacy since the times of the Maccabean revolts that have fractured their community into competing sub-groups with competing concerns (politics vs. tradition)

They’ve continually seen their power diminished and their traditions disrespected and just when they begin to see signs and miracles again, they find themselves on the wrong side of that argument as well.

I would contend that the Sanhedrin, as arrogant and ignorant as they seem to us right now, are by far the better picture of how we behave when we feel we are being backed into a corner.

When we will feel like our authority, our traditions, our survival is threatened, we fight back.

Stephen’s speech, on the other hand, shows that his concern is entirely different.

I would put forth the theory that Stephen didn’t give this speech to drop the mic on his opponents, he wasn’t going for clout, he certainly wasn’t planning on running for a political office in the next election season. I think that Stephen could probably guess what was about to happen to him, because he knew what had happened to Jesus. But he told them anyway, hoping that they might still repent.

(SLIDE) Acts 7:54–60 (ESV)

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 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. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Sound familiar?

(SLIDE) Luke 23:34 (ESV)

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

They grind their teeth at him! They are growling, they are clawing, they are reaching out in a feral rage to kill this man, and for what?

You might notice that Stephen hardly adds any controversial interpretation of the scripture in his speech. The Israelites knew they had previously strayed into apostacy. This is well-accounted throughout Old Testament literature!

The first two points we’ve discussed today were almost certainly a matter of record for the Israelites at this time

Of course they knew that the Hebrew people could slip into heresy, the last 300 years of their history in Palestine have been riddled with infighting and faction splits based on an insinuation at least that their opponents were slipping into heresy!

I believe that the addition of this third point, which Stephen only explicitly states in a single sentence, brings a maddening mirror before the faces of the Sanhedrin.

Their fathers hadn’t recognized Joseph until he’d made himself known to them.

They’d rejected Moses when he first tried to offer them salvation.

They’d killed John the Baptist

and then they’d killed Jesus, the one who all their scriptures spoke of, while possessed by the same foolishness as their ancestors.

And that same fury and foolishness overtakes them, and they murder Stephen.

They could not imagine that they would make the same mistake as their forbears, and so they rushed in.

Today, as we look back at the seminal events of our belief system, moments like this should strike us to the core.

Are we really any different from the Sanhedrin?

Are we more enlightened, more scripturally literate, more spiritual?

Are we capable of great foolishness in the name of our traditions and our beliefs? Are we trying to confine God to this building and to the works of our hands?

Are we capable of become hard-headed and hard-hearted enough that we ourselves slip from being protagonists in the unfolding plan of God to being unwitting antagonists?

Stephen, empowered by the Holy Spirit, was obedient unto the point of death when he gave this speech, and I would contend that he spoke those words because he believed that some might still repent. When we feel cornered, attacked, endangered, will our first concern be the gospel and pointing those who persecute us to Christ?

In the coming weeks, we will soon meet a young man named Saul for the first time in these final verses of Chapter 7, and after a few more bumps in the road, we will see Stephen’s hope fulfilled and Church history shaped as Saul crosses over that line and becomes one of the protagonists.