Sacrificing Ourselves

Having taken on Stephen in debate, the Jewish religionists realise they cannot take the theological high-ground. Instead, they resort to breaking their own law even further by stirring up hatred via the mob and recruiting false witnesses. Stephen gives a potted history of Israel. By this, he shows his credentials as a Jew. However, towards its end he turns the story into a polemic against his audience, accusing them of killing their Messiah and those who predicted his coming: the prophets. He further tells them that they are breakers of the Mosaic Law. His exclamation that he was seeing a vision of the Son at God's right hand was too much, and the crowd drags him away to kill him. We can view the cause of his murder as a clash between his godly attributes and their wicked ones. We notice too the parallels between Stephen's death and that of Jesus. Finally, the definition of "martyr" is explored, and it is discovered that all God's people are to "martyr" themselves through daily sacrifice in God's service.