The choosing of the seven
1 In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the so-called Hellenists complained against the so-called Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
2 So the Twelve summoned the whole body of disciples together and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve at tables.
3 So, friends, choose from among yourselves seven respected men full of Spirit and wis dom, that we may appoint them to this task.
4 As for us, we shall give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.”
5 The whole community agreed and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and Holy Spirit; Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parme nus and Nicolaus of Antioch who was a proselyte.
6 They presented these men to the apostles who first prayed over them and then laid hands upon them.
7 The Word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly and even many priests accepted the faith.
The story of Stephen
8 Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
9 Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Syna gogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia.
10 They argued with Stephen but they could not match the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
11 As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speak against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council.
13 Then they produced false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law.
14 We even heard him say that Jesus the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”
15 And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.
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Comments Acts, Chapter 6
• 6.1 Jesus did not spell out for his apostles how they were supposed to organize the Church. And a conflict arose between two social groups. The Jews, called Hebrews, had never left their land and they spoke Aramaic. The Hellenists were those who had lived abroad and who usually spoke Greek. They may have followed the Essene movement and refused to participate in Temple rituals. They felt uncomfortable with the liturgy and community life and their frustrations were growing. In fact, the apostles identified more readily with the Hebrews and it became necessary to give some autonomy to the Hellenists with their own people being in charge. This was probably the birth of a Greek-speaking church, with a Greek liturgy.
The community chose seven men. Since their authority had to come from Christ, it had to be passed on by the apostles.
The candidates must be filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, because they are not only entrusted with material services. And even if it were only for material services the Church would have much to suffer from competent administrators who lacked the Spirit of the Gospel. Were these seven men the first deacons? Luke mentions nothing beyond service, and “deacon” denotes servant, usually steward. In fact, this term, “deacons,” will from the start give the meaning of every ministry in the Church: ministry means “service” (1 Cor 12:15). Ministers are at the service of the community assembled by the Spirit to witness to the salvation given by Jesus. All through the centuries, the ministers of the Church would be tempted to misuse the role entrusted to them for the good of the community. Many will take advantage of their “service” to put themselves over the community: they will let others serve and honor them and will not hesitate to be called princes of the Church. What is true for those called to a high rank in the hierarchy is equally true for all those priests or lay people entrusted with lesser responsibilities: all must remember the words of Jesus (Lk 22: 24-27).
• 8. Philip will be mentioned in Acts 8:5 and 21:8. Stephen is the only one remembered here.
Being a Hellenist (see previous paragraph), Stephen did not share the blind faith of the Jewish peo ple in their Tem ple and its rituals. He understood that the Church had to become free from the patterns of the past and move away from the Jews, if they refused to believe.
Stephen’s long discourse before the San he drin (the Great Council) is an outstanding summary of the Old Testament. It emphasizes the increasing initiatives of God who calls, gives, promises, corrects and saves. Confronting this untiring love is the permanent rebellion of Israel who despises God and rejects those he sends. The prophet Hosea, eight centuries before Christ, already expressed the drama of the rejected love of God by his people (Hos 11:1-4). Stephen proclaims it again: this drama reached its culmination when Jesus, the Son-of-God-made-man, was nailed to the cross (Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:10).
Stephen dies as Christ did. He becomes the first martyr (martyr means witness). He is a witness to Christ because he proclaims him, but even more so because he does as Christ did, he forgives his murderers.
Like Peter after Pentecost, Stephen still hopes for a conversion of the Jewish people: a minority at least will be converted. This hope will fade in time with the persecutions raised against the Church. The murder of Stephen would be the first sign leading the converted Jews to understand that apostolic work must be undertaken beyond the frontiers of the Jewish fortress.
Later, when it becomes clear that the Jewish community has rejected the Gospel, Paul will strive to build among pagan nations a network of communities, a new people of God. Then Paul and the other apostles will search for all those who, in any nation, have been predestined by God. They see the Church as a people of “saints.”
However, it again appears that many in the Church are not converted. As soon as the community grows and organizes itself, all the defects Jesus denounced in the Jewish Syna gogue take place among the Christians and in the structures of the Church.
You always resist the Holy Spirit. This was and remains true in the Church that enjoys the assistance of the Spirit. The people of God always tend to take on the criteria and aims of any human group. Peace with those in political power, security for the future, unity and strength for the Christian organizations are more attractive than the words of the Gospel: sell all your belongings, preach on the roof tops, go to the poor, do not be called “father.”
The only way to escape from this return to “the Synagogue” is to do what the first Christians did after Stephen’s death: leave our beloved nest for the mission of proclaiming the whole Gospel.