“Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1-4)
The martyrdom of Stephen proved to be the launching point of a great persecution against the early church. As far as we know from the biblical record, Stephen was the first believer since the resurrection of Christ to be put to death for preaching the truth. Up to this point, there had been threats, floggings, and imprisonments, but no one had died. Now the stakes had been raised and a young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, saw an opportunity to make a name for himself. With the blessing of the Jewish leadership, he launched a deadly offensive against the young church. These trials that began in Jerusalem led to a scattering of the close knit Christian community. I can imagine the Sanhedrin thinking that they were finally crushing the movement for good.
Little did they know that their efforts were actually providing a catalyst for the growth of the church! The harder they tried to destroy it, the more it scattered and continued to share the message of Christ. As we discussed this text in class recently, I likened it to trying to put out a campfire in a dry forest. If you try to extinguish the fire by stomping it out with fireproof boots, all you are going to do is scatter fiery embers that will start more fires. The harder the opposition tried to stomp out the church, the more it scattered to light more fires for Christ.
Tertullian had it right when he said: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
God loves you!
Mike
