Acts 7:44–53

Be still: Dear Lord, thank you for your desire to meet with me wherever I am, whatever my circumstances. Please bless this time spent reading Scripture and teach me how to apply it to my life. Amen.

Read: Acts 7:44–53

You always resist the Holy Spirit! (v51)

Encounter: Stephen addresses the Sanhedrin, the chief judges of the day who were well-versed in the Jewish scriptures. He makes the point that the Israelites have long had a history of extraordinary privilege with God. It seems the Sanhedrin had become complacent in their powerful positions, believing they deserved their place in God's favour. 

But these were the same Jewish leaders who decided Jesus, God’s own son, was guilty of blasphemy and demanded for him to be executed. Stephen seems overwhelmed with frustration about how God’s people have resisted him. 

‘You stiff-necked people!’....‘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.’ 

God’s people, whom he chose to bless with the wonder of his close presence, have rejected him and his prophets throughout the generations— to the point of killing his son. This reads like an overwhelming condemnation of sin and rebellion— what hope is there for us today? 

But Stephen quotes from Isaiah 66, which my translation titles, ‘Judgement and Hope.’ Although the rebellion of his people grieves God, he promises that ‘as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you’ (v13).  

Righteous anger and comfort exist together in the person of Jesus. Although sin enrages and grieves him, he is the God who, crucified and abandoned, appears to his followers with gentleness and forgiveness, greeting them with the words, ‘peace be with you’ (Luke 24:36). 

Apply: Are there sins for which you need God’s forgiveness? Remember, he is a God not only of justice, but of comfort. If it helps, write down or say aloud where you have chosen your own way over God’s; then dwell on Psalm 103:12: ‘as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’ 

Devote: Dear Jesus, thank you for your remarkable love, that you were willing to die for every sinner, including me. Forgive me when I have taken that love for granted and rejected you. Please fill me with your peace.