Luke the physician wrote how, “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people”, and after being interrogated by the people in the synagogue, “all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then said the high priest, Are these things so?”, and Stephen defended his faith by referring to, “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses”. He asked the Sanhedrin, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”, and in chapter seven and verse fifty-seven of the book of Acts Luke shared how the Sanhedrin, “cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears” where we read:
Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
The verse begins, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, ...” Luke began with the words, “then they cried out” which means “at that time the members of the Sanhedrin shouted aloud and vociferated” “with a loud voice” or “by the use of great, large and abundant sounds of uttered words”, “and stopped their ears” which means “and held and pressed together their physical ears from hearing”. Luke shared how the religious leaders in the “Sanhedrin” began to shout aloud and hold their ears from hearing the words of “Stephen”.
The verse continues, “... and ran upon him with one accord,” Luke added the words, “and ran upon him” which means “and rushed in rapid motion, stirred and started forward impetuously toward Stephen” “with one accord” or “with one mind and passion”. Luke shared how the members of the “Sanhedrin” began to rush toward “Stephen” in unison.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we discover the tipping point of ire that lie within the religious leaders in the “Sanhedrin”. After they were “cut to heart” and “gnashed” upon “Stephen” with their teeth, they began to “shout aloud” and close their ears to his declaration about seeing Jesus at God's right hand. This response is often the reaction of those who refuse to receive Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”. Rather than come to God through His Son Jesus, they attempt to find another way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me” (See John 14:6). Those who are wise will yield themselves to Jesus to inherit eternal life with God, and those who are unwise will reject and refuse Him and His believers and will be separated from Him for all eternity.
Next time Luke shares how the Sanhedrin, “cast him out of the city, and stoned him”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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