Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
Today’s first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. It is the account of the church’s first known martyr, St. Stephen. This also happens to be one of my favorite passages from Scripture to teach. I use it to talk about what was so radical about Christianity. Stephen is being persecuted for his Christian faith, and overseeing the whole thing is none other than St. Paul, called Saul before his conversion on the road to Damascus. Refusing to renounce Christ, Stephen says to his persecutors that although they are observant Jews, they remain “uncircumcised in heart and ears.” He is implying that they have not been open to God’s new work in Jesus Christ.
After insulting them this way, Stephen has a vision (like many later martyrs) where he says he sees “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” For his persecutors, this is tantamount to blasphemy, and they cover their ears so as not to hear it. Stephen is eventually stoned for his faith, and in a stroke of brilliance, the writer of Acts says that at the moment of his death, Stephen says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He also says, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
It’s an absolute delight to see the lightbulbs above my students’ heads when they realize: hey! this sounds an awful lot like what Jesus says! In short, Stephen mimics Jesus in such a way as to make the point absolutely clear: where Jesus calls out to God, Stephen calls out to Jesus, thus equating God and Jesus. To the very end, Stephen proclaims the absolutely unbelievable news that God has taken flesh in Jesus Christ.
It is easy to dislike Stephen’s executioners in this story. They are obstinate and violent towards him. But what their reaction should remind us of is the radical truth of the Gospel. Stephen is witnessing to God’s deep love for a broken world made manifest in Jesus. He pays for this witness with his life, a terrifying reality of the early church. A wooden carving is the on the door of The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Paul in Rome. It is the site of St. Paul’s tomb. To enter the basilica, you must literally pass through the stories of the saints and martyrs, including Stephen. I have found much joy and challenge ‘passing through’ the story of St. Stephen, witness to Christ and martyr of the church. Two important questions emerge from this harrowing story. First, are we not sometimes like those persecutors, refusing to hear the Gospel and reacting with defensiveness and violence? And second, are we ready to be surprised again by the radical love we find in Christ?
- Katherine Schmidt