Act 8:3 | KingComments | STEP | When Stephen was stoned, Saul already demonstrated his involvement by acting as a robe keeper ( ). Now Luke notes that he was in hearty agreement with the stoning. Immediately after this remark of Saul’s consent to Stephen’s death, Luke mentions the first major persecution against the church. With Stephen’s death the floodgates are opened. The spirit of hatred that the religious leaders possess takes full possession of them and comes to full development. With Stephen’s death also the extra year of grace that Israel was given by God to bring forth fruit for Him comes to an end ( ). Now that Stephen has been rejected and with that the second offer of grace, the offer of salvation goes to the nations. For this, God will use the man who is still in the process of becoming the greatest persecutor of Christians. First the gospel will be brought to the regions of Judea and Samaria. The church is scattered to these regions. These are the regions that the Lord Jesus mentioned in His commission to the disciples to proclaim the gospel there ( ). So far, this has not been done. The Lord uses persecution to process this ( ). Because of this they are as it were sent out into the harvest ( ). The apostles stay in Jerusalem. Are they disobeying their commission? It may be that it is courageous to stay in Jerusalem right now and that God wants it that way. After the Council has assuaged its anger by the stoning of Stephen, this first martyr for the faith is brought to the tomb by devout men. The loud lamentation over him fits in with this. They are grieved, but not in the way that unbelievers are grieved who have no hope ( ). Luke then turns our attention to Saul again for a moment. He has seen with joy that Stephen was killed. That event has unleashed in him the cherished feelings of hatred, which he expresses by destroying the church (cf. ). In doing so he works meticulously. He enters every house where he suspects Christians live or gather ( ). When he finds them, he arrests them and puts them in prison ( ), where he tried by using torture to force them to blaspheme ( ). In doing so, he makes no distinction between men and women. People driven by hatred have no eye for differences in bearing capacity. Especially the weak are a grateful target for them. Maybe it is precisely in a general sense the weak who have been left behind in Jerusalem because they have no possibilities to flee. All the hatred that erupts only accomplishes the will of God, because through the scattering that results from this, the gospel goes to many places. The persecution is like an unpleasant wind that carries the seed to other places with the happy consequence that it can germinate there. The hatred that drives them away does not frighten them, but on the contrary makes them courageous witnesses. The proclamation of the Word is done by every scattered believer. The proclamation of the gospel clearly does not depend on a gift, but on a heart full of the Lord. What is meant by the enemy to eradicate, God uses to expand His work. We find here a beautiful application of Samson’s riddle: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet” ( ). The eater and the strong is the enemy who “prowls around like the roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” ( ). But instead of devouring the believers, new life is created as a result of faith in the preached gospel. We see a wonderful example of what is happening in the area of Samaria, of which Luke gives us an account in the next section.

‏ Acts 8:3

Persecution – Stephen Buried

When Stephen was stoned, Saul already demonstrated his involvement by acting as a robe keeper (Acts 7:58). Now Luke notes that he was in hearty agreement with the stoning. Immediately after this remark of Saul’s consent to Stephen’s death, Luke mentions the first major persecution against the church. With Stephen’s death the floodgates are opened. The spirit of hatred that the religious leaders possess takes full possession of them and comes to full development.

With Stephen’s death also the extra year of grace that Israel was given by God to bring forth fruit for Him comes to an end (Lk 13:6-9). Now that Stephen has been rejected and with that the second offer of grace, the offer of salvation goes to the nations. For this, God will use the man who is still in the process of becoming the greatest persecutor of Christians.

First the gospel will be brought to the regions of Judea and Samaria. The church is scattered to these regions. These are the regions that the Lord Jesus mentioned in His commission to the disciples to proclaim the gospel there (Acts 1:8). So far, this has not been done. The Lord uses persecution to process this (Acts 8:4). Because of this they are as it were sent out into the harvest (Lk 10:2). The apostles stay in Jerusalem. Are they disobeying their commission? It may be that it is courageous to stay in Jerusalem right now and that God wants it that way.

After the Council has assuaged its anger by the stoning of Stephen, this first martyr for the faith is brought to the tomb by devout men. The loud lamentation over him fits in with this. They are grieved, but not in the way that unbelievers are grieved who have no hope (1Thes 4:13-14).

Luke then turns our attention to Saul again for a moment. He has seen with joy that Stephen was killed. That event has unleashed in him the cherished feelings of hatred, which he expresses by destroying the church (cf. Psa 83:4). In doing so he works meticulously. He enters every house where he suspects Christians live or gather (Acts 2:46 ; Acts 5:42).

When he finds them, he arrests them and puts them in prison (Acts 22:4), where he tried by using torture to force them to blaspheme (Acts 26:9-11). In doing so, he makes no distinction between men and women. People driven by hatred have no eye for differences in bearing capacity. Especially the weak are a grateful target for them. Maybe it is precisely in a general sense the weak who have been left behind in Jerusalem because they have no possibilities to flee.

All the hatred that erupts only accomplishes the will of God, because through the scattering that results from this, the gospel goes to many places. The persecution is like an unpleasant wind that carries the seed to other places with the happy consequence that it can germinate there. The hatred that drives them away does not frighten them, but on the contrary makes them courageous witnesses.

The proclamation of the Word is done by every scattered believer. The proclamation of the gospel clearly does not depend on a gift, but on a heart full of the Lord. What is meant by the enemy to eradicate, God uses to expand His work.

We find here a beautiful application of Samson’s riddle: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet” (Jdg 14:14). The eater and the strong is the enemy who “prowls around like the roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Pet 5:8). But instead of devouring the believers, new life is created as a result of faith in the preached gospel. We see a wonderful example of what is happening in the area of Samaria, of which Luke gives us an account in the next section.