Acts 6:1-15
Acts 6:1-15
Recap
The apostles have been arrested and threatened ch3
Then they’re arrested and imprisoned ch4
Then they’re arrested and beaten ch5
And each time God brings them through their trial
And each time they’re commanded to go back and continue teaching
And their faithfulness bears fruit as daily people are added to the church
Something to keep in mind:
As they’re obedient they receive trials or testing (in the form of consequences)
As they trust Him in their trials their faith grows
As their faith grows their trial grows
As their trial grows, their faith grows
This is what it means when He says if you have faith as a mustard seed you can move mountains
Not not that if you have a very small amount of faith you can work miracles — but rather you only need a little faith, in a little trial, and God will grow it
This is why James says — count it all joy when we enter into various trials,knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance
It produces a faith that endures
Scripture
Acts 6:1-15 (NKJV) 1 Now in those days, when [the number of] the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
The honeymoon was over and now the realities of marriage begin to surface
The success of the ministry brought on its own challenges
At this point the church is almost entirely of Jewish ethnicity
But even within Jewish ethnicity existed cultural differences
Division is starting to occur between Hellenists and traditional Jews known as the Hebrews
When Alexander the Great came into Jerusalem he brought in Greek culture
This pursuit was continued after his death by the generals who took over
One of the most notable was Antiochus Epiphanes
Where Alexander the Great sought to spread Greek culture voluntarily, Antiochus Epiphanes did so by force
You might remember from our study in Daniel that this led to the Maccabean war
Those Jews who gave in and embraced Greek culture were called Hellenists
David Guzick writes:
“Hebrews tended to regard Hellenists as unspiritual compromisers with Greek culture, and Hellenists regarded Hebrews as holier-than-thou traditionalists. There was already a natural suspicion [and divide] between the two groups”
It says: there arose a complaint against the Hebrews — the fact that it says it was a COMPLAINT and that it was directed AGAINST the Hebrews seems to imply this might have been intentional
Whether this was intentional or simply an administrative issue as a result of the church growing so large so fast we can’t say
But my opinion based on the text and how they go about resolving this issue (by appointing faithful men, full of the Holy Spirit) is that it was intentional
If that’s the case:
One thing this shows us is that coming to Christ did not instantly clean people up
Many brought their old prejudices with them into the church
And in this case the Jews who were giving out the daily portion of goods (presumably from what was laid at the apostles feet) may have been withholding from the Hellenistic Jews who had come to Christ
One thing we can all learn from this is that we all used to be something else.
Many of us differ vastly in our pasts
But if we focus on what we used to be we will have division — but if we focus on what we have now become we will have unity
One thing we all have in common about our past is that we all were once dominated by our own self-ambition, self-will — whatever that looked like in your life
But if we have been made a new creation in Christ that old man has died and we now share in a new pursuit with new desires — “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” — this is what gives us unity.
Unity of purpose and unity of authority
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
When he says “serve tables” he’s not implying that they are above doing so
Instead what we’re seeing is the start of dividing up ministry based on ability
The apostles focus was on teaching — they had been the ones directly taught by Christ and thus only they could do that job
But the caring for others could be done by disciples who were still learning and growing
3 “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of [good] reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
The office they establish here is what will later become known as deacons
The apostles had established a simple criteria:
Good reputation
Full of the Holy Spirit
And wisdom
Paul will give us a list of requirements for deacons in his letter to Timothy
1 Timothy 3:8-13 (NKJV) 8 Likewise deacons [must be] reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being [found] blameless. 11 Likewise, [their] wives [must be] reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling [their] children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Whether Luke’s list is just a simplified list or whether the requirements evolve we don’t know
Deacons have essentially the same requirements as pastors with the exception of the requirement to teach
This makes sense, since many of these disciples are fairly new Christians and are able to oversee ministry tasks and even lead, but not yet ready to teach and shepherd
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles;
One thing to take note of was that it says “it pleased the multitudes”
This gives us a hint into how such decisions were made
They were made in the open, likely discussed with the group.
This doesn’t mean that it was a democracy — the apostles were the apostles — they held authority
But it does mean that these decisions were not made by one man and imposed upon the people
and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
This issue of the “laying on of hands” is sometimes made to be more mysterious than it is.
We’ll see later on in chapter 8 that it was viewed as something somewhat magical — but that was by an outsider
The laying on of hands is something we see in:
Healing (Acts 9, Acts 28)
Appointing, Ordaining or Commissioning (Acts 6, Acts 13)
Receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8, Acts 19)
Many who are mentioned in scripture as “having hands laid upon them” already have received the Holy Spirit — as is the case with Stephen
We see the same practice carried out in the early church
Iranaeus (healing) 180 AD
Tertullian (Holy Spirit after baptism) 197 AD
Hyppolytus (ordaining to ministry) early 3rd century
It was not merely an empty gesture, but neither was it treated as human beings magically transferring power. God remained the One who gave the Spirit and grace
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Was Stephen capable of performing these great wonders without having had hands laid upon him? — I don’t know
We see in the case of Stephen at least one person outside the apostles who performed miracles
9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen(Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
The synagogue of the freedmen refers to Jews who were once enslaved to Rome and have been set free
These are practicing Jews who were forced into slavery as compared to Hellenists who voluntarily took on Greek culture
They begin disputing with Stephen but they’re not able to refute any of Stephen’s evidences
At least one supernatural thing that occurred with Stephen is a wisdom given by the Holy Spirit — an understanding of scripture that went beyond mere education
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon [him,] seized him, and brought [him] to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 “for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”
When it says the secretly induced men — they compelled men to lie or distort Stephen’s words
The rebellious heart is unwilling to hear the truth — they will rewrite the story, edit details or outright lie to defend their position
One way we can know that we are deceiving ourselves is that when confronted with the truth, we have to alter facts to fit our purposes
It’s interesting that they carefully massage the truth here to fit their narrative
It says one accusation was that he was openly blasphemous — which is a personal interpretation or exaggeration
Stephen likely did say something to the effect Jesus would change customs delivered by Moses
Because it was Moses who established the sacrificial system and Jesus is the fulfillment of that system according to Hebrews
But to say that it is blasphemous is only true if you leave out the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law Moses established
The truth of his message is interpreted through the lens of their own desires and emotions
Their heart is hardened — they aren’t really looking for the truth. They are looking for confirmation of their own desires
15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.
But Stephen’s reaction says it all
He knows what the truth is and he is confident before God that he has been faithful to the message
So he’s at complete peace
Comments