Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Acts 8:1-4
Satan appeared to change his strategy away from the apostles to rank-in-file church members, perhaps sensing a more vulnerable prey. His main focus, in fact, may have been other pesky Hellenistic Christians like Philip. But we must remember Jesus’ words at his exit…
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
God’s plan was to spread the gospel to Judea and Samaria (and beyond), which was implemented and executed upon Stephen’s death.
As to the burial of Stephen, the rule was you couldn’t formally “celebrate the death” of someone executed by authorities, but there was no such prohibition against “mourning.” In Stephen’s case, devout men loudly mourned his death, taking whatever “liberty” they could while burying Christianity’s first martyr.
It’s not lost on me that Saul was filled with such malice (congealed anger) that he could witness the execution of a human being and not only consent to it but give it his “hearty approval.” We find this same phrase in Romans 1:32, at rock bottom of the downward spiral of human depravity. It is ironic that Paul would pen the following words in later life.
Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:32
It is important to contrast the Saul who ravaged the church seeking to utterly ruin it, with the Paul who renounced and mourned his past behavior. He was tormented by what he had done to the church, this guilt burden only assuaged by the mercy of God.
I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. 1 Timothy 1:13
The takeaways here are that nothing will stand in the way of the advancement of the gospel, that “God causes all things to work for good,” (Romans 8:28) and that even the most vile offender can be struck down from his “high horse.”
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