Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 82
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
6:1–7:1
Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this
message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”
But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent.
The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the
daily distribution of food.
So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We
apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a
food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected
and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the
word.”
Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man
full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).
These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they
laid their hands on them.
So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly
increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They
were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia.
None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which
Stephen spoke.
So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard
him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” This roused the people, the elders,
and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought
him before the high council.
The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy
Temple and against the law of Moses. We have heard him say that this
Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses
handed down to us.”
At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his
face became as bright as an angel’s.
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
