sound of a soft breath

Listen to Acts Chapter 6 & 7 & 8
or read "The First Martyr"
I like the way Brenda Quinn summarizes this account recorded in Acts. She writes this about the stoning of Stephen and the context for this tragedy.

Opposition to the early Christians gets worse. Not only are the apostles working miracles, but now other believers are doing the same, threatening the Jewish religious establishment. The Jews can't win arguments against one of these believers, Stephen, so they resort to lying about him before the Sanhedrin. Stephen's speech so incenses those listening that they drag him outside the city and stone him, making him the first recorded martyr of the early church."
The truth about Jesus being the Messiah, being God continues to shake things up, especially among the religious leaders. After Stephen performs miracles he is singled out by some of these religious leaders. They make up some lies about what he is saying and bring him before the same council that John and Peter had been questioned and ordered not to tell people about Jesus. Before this council of 71 religious leaders Stephen lays out the big picture of Scripture. The same Scripture and laws that many of these council members spent their lives studying. He reviews the history of God's people, their history, starting with Abraham and running through Moses, King David, and all the prophets. He paints a picture of a faithful God being rejected time and time again by his people, the Israelites.

Brenda Quinn continues putting it this way.

Stephen notes God's promises to his people throughout the generations, and the people's repeated unfaithfulness. Charged with speaking against the synagogue, Stephen reminds the Jewish leaders of God's words through Isaiah (7:49-50). All creation is God's temple, and further, Christ replaced the temple by becoming the way for all people to come to God.

Stephen's accusations bear themselves out even in his own life. The Israelite people have a history of persecuting God's prophets. Insistent on their agendas for God, they have often closed themselves to the new things God was accomplishing. They even killed God's Son, their Messiah. Now they follow suit by stoning Stephen. Like the prophets before him, and like Jesus himself, Stephen remains fixed on God to the end, praying for those who take his life.

Now the church must go underground. Believers are forced to scatter, and in this way they bring the gospel to new places. The church continues to grow rapidly. As it does, we meet one of its most vengeful opponents, Saul. With the same fervency that new believers show toward Christ, Saul seeks to imprison them and squelch the burgeoning threat to Judaism. He is intent on his mission, but God has other plans."
What looked like a crushing blow to the spread of the gospel ends up being a blessing. This horrific event of Stephen being stoned to death by religious officials of the government in Jerusalem forced the believers and followers of Christ to get out of their comfort zone. Their world was shaken. It forced them to go out and share their story. Share with those outside Jerusalem about the incredible events they had witnessed.

The partial image above in this post is from an etching in a book published in 1660 titled The Martyrs Mirror. Jan Luiken (1649-1712) made the etchings in the Martyrs Mirror. Note the man standing off in the background. This is Saul also known as Paul.