Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Stephen's opponents secretly hired and induced men to give false testimony that he had spoken blasphemous words against Moses and against God. Unable to overcome his clear, calm wisdom and unwilling to yield to the evidence he presented, they resorted to this fabricated charge to oppose his preaching about Jesus. The accusation arose from hatred of his testimony about Jesus, and illustrates how people eager to reject unwelcome truth seize unreliable claims and treat them as facts.
The accusations arose as priests and others turned from their traditions and accepted Jesus as the great sacrifice. The fabricated charge was used to bring him before the council, to silence him and make an example of him. The false witnesses further claimed he spoke against the temple and the law, saying Jesus would destroy the temple and destroy or change the customs Moses had delivered.
The need to suborn false witnesses proves they had no true ground for condemnation. If Sabbath-breaking could truthfully have been fastened on Christ, Stephen, or others who died for their faith, false testimony would not have been needed to furnish a pretext, for one real transgression of the law would have placed Christians in their enemies' power. Their carefulness to show utmost respect even for customs and ceremonies of minor importance is evidence they did not violate the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, since such a violation would have brought the severest penalty. Like the accusations against Christ and Paul, the accusations against Stephen were founded on falsehood.
Saul accepted the priests' and rulers' judgment and the charge as true, despite the evidence of God's presence with Stephen, concluding that Stephen was a blasphemer, Jesus was an impostor, and the disciples' teaching was wrong, and this helped turn him toward bitter persecution of Christians. Saul's confidence in his teachers, his education, his prejudice, and his desire for popularity led him to resist his conscience and persecute those who believed in Jesus.
Stephen's opponents secretly hired and induced men to give false testimony that he had spoken blasphemous words against Moses and against God. Unable to overcome his clear, calm wisdom and unwilling to yield to the evidence he presented, they resorted to this fabricated charge to oppose his preaching about Jesus. The accusation arose from hatred of his testimony about Jesus, and illustrates how people eager to reject unwelcome truth seize unreliable claims and treat them as facts.
The accusations arose as priests and others turned from their traditions and accepted Jesus as the great sacrifice. The fabricated charge was used to bring him before the council, to silence him and make an example of him. The false witnesses further claimed he spoke against the temple and the law, saying Jesus would destroy the temple and destroy or change the customs Moses had delivered.
The need to suborn false witnesses proves they had no true ground for condemnation. If Sabbath-breaking could truthfully have been fastened on Christ, Stephen, or others who died for their faith, false testimony would not have been needed to furnish a pretext, for one real transgression of the law would have placed Christians in their enemies' power. Their carefulness to show utmost respect even for customs and ceremonies of minor importance is evidence they did not violate the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, since such a violation would have brought the severest penalty. Like the accusations against Christ and Paul, the accusations against Stephen were founded on falsehood.
Saul accepted the priests' and rulers' judgment and the charge as true, despite the evidence of God's presence with Stephen, concluding that Stephen was a blasphemer, Jesus was an impostor, and the disciples' teaching was wrong, and this helped turn him toward bitter persecution of Christians. Saul's confidence in his teachers, his education, his prejudice, and his desire for popularity led him to resist his conscience and persecute those who believed in Jesus.