07/05/2025

St Stephen was put to death because of his "blasphemy", basically because he had believed and proclaimed the Resurrection. All the Apostles had had to come to terms in their own minds with the significance of their experience of the previous three years.

As Jews they all shared in the believe that IAMIAM is the only one God and that the scriptures recorded his dealings with them and their forefathers. They knew how to be "human" for scripture revealed the "Law" by which they should live.

How much they were guided  to follow Jesus as "Messiah" is a matter for conjecture as there was never anything "political" about Jesus' message; except for "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" and "My kingdom is not of this world". He always speaks to each individual and not to a Religious or Political class.

There is no conjecture, however about the reactions to Jesus of Nazareth by Scribes, priests, Pharisees/Sadducees. That " class" had  united in a common "politico-ecclesiastical establishment front and, disagreements put to one side, united by panic, they agreed to kill Jesus. (Where was Gamaliel on the morning of Good Friday?).

At his appearance before the Sanhedrin Stephen proclaimed "Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God". This vision has nothing to do with this world devoted as it is to the Mammon of  material.

St Stephen was stoned because the Holy Spirit revealed through him that there is spiritual life continuing after death and that to inherit it we have to remain steadfast in love both for IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT and also, as were Jesus and Stephen, for all other men. "Forgive them for they know not what they do."