“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.””

Calling out sin, as Steven does here, is difficult and dangerous. When God calls us to call out sin in others, we should first look to ourselves to see if there is anything we can change in ourselves. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asked his disciples this question, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭41‬)

That said, Stephen was calling out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees not to make himself look better or to judge them in God’s place. No, he was calling it out to challenge them so that some might be saved. (As it turns out, later in Acts, one of the Pharisees who heard Stephen’s message was later saved.)

Stephen calls them stiff-necked, uncircumcised in the heart and ears, and people who resist the Holy Spirit. Let’s break this down: 1) They are stubborn like a mule or donkey. Their traditions and man-made rules get in the way of God’s work, and they stubbornly will not change, though they see the signs of wonder and miracles that accompany God’s work. 2) Circumcision is not typically performed on a heart or an ear. We all know this. So Stephen was using a spiritual reference here. The point of circumcision was to set apart the Jews as a people of God by marking them, so they could remember the covenant God made with Abraham. They were to seek after God and have a heart after his and listen to hear his voice and act upon his call. Instead they crucified God’s only Son, sent to save them. And they killed the prophets sent before him who predicted his coming. 3) They resist the Holy Spirit by ignoring his prompting on their hearts. God is always pursuing us, and he gave us a conscience to know right from wrong. When we stubbornly go our own way, we push the Spirit of God, who desires to be close to us in our hearts … we push him away!

What we see at the end of this passage is two different reactions to the truth: 1) The Pharisees got angry and ground their teeth at him. They did not want to change or admit their sin, so they rejected the truth Stephen spoke. 2) Stephen, the truth speaker (who sacrificed everything) decided to look toward heaven for his help, and he was shown a great revelation: “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” He embraced the truth, though he knew the consequences would be severe, and God rewarded him with a glimpse into heaven. It’s like God was communicating to him, “This is a gift, a glimpse of where you will be shortly. Thank you, Stephen, for being faithful to boldly be a witness of the gospel of Christ.”

When God calls us to jump, do we say, “How high?” Stephen was obedient, he did not shrink back, but stood his ground and used his platform, even this trial platform, to preach the gospel.

Lord, thank you for Stephen’s boldness. Thank you for rewarding your faithful servants. I plan to be bold like Stephen! Fill me and use me as you desire!