God chose the most stereotypical person to be the first
king. Of Saul we are told, “There was not a man among the people of Israel more
handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the
people.” He was literally the tall, good
looking guy from a wealthy family. He is
a responsible young man, the one his father sent out to look for lost donkeys
but he was also one who cared about his father, worrying that he had been gone
so long his father would be worried more about his absence than the donkeys. He
and his servant apparently thought of the man of God as more a fortune teller
than a prophet, they presumed he would give information concerning the
whereabouts of lost donkeys for money.
The times they are a’changing. Peter believes he is ready to stand with
Jesus even if all the others leave him but Jesus knows better, Peter’s faith,
the rock, will fail him in this hour of need.
He tells them that up to now they have seen the blessedness of God in
their lives and in their work but that is soon going to be very different. I don’t believe that Jesus meant to suggest they
needed swords for the next season of the journey, only using that as a device
to point to the danger they would all face.
We can be relatively certain that this was not intended as instruction
because not a single one of these men or anyone else we see persecuted or
martyred in the New Testament or the early church went down fighting. The disciples, following a pattern that is
well-established for them, misunderstand Jesus’ meaning.
The history lesson continues. You have to believe that the leaders here
were quite impatient with the impertinence of Stephen in reciting this history
to them who were the teachers of Israel.
It seems more like an oral examination answer than a response or defense
to the charges proffered against him doesn’t it? Stephen is establishing his
bona fides in believing the Bible. He isn’t doing revisionist history and his
words are clearly an affirmation of his belief in all that they themselves
believe. The history of God’s work with His
people is complicated and the complicating factor is us, our sinful desires and
schemes. We live in a world that no
longer has any idea of right and wrong, good and evil, and for that reason it
is a complicated world. We need to
recognize that and we need also then to recognize that we have only to follow
Him to get to our destination, no one else.
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