8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
-Acts 6:8-15
Similar to other passages in Acts, this passage depicts an instance in which a follower of Christ goes through something similar to what Jesus experienced. In this case, Stephen was challenged and eventually arrested by those opposed to Jesus's teachings, similar to what Jesus experienced when he was on Earth during his ministry.
Furthermore, we can draw some parallels from a few chapters back in which Peter and John were being challenged as they were teaching. Similar to that event, we read here that Stephen was being opposed by people trying to undermine his teachings, but the Holy Spirit gave Stephen tremendous wisdom that opposition could not stand up against him, so much they had to use secret methods and false witnesses to get what they wanted. Regardless, the Holy Spirit in Stephen still prevailed and displayed His power by having Stephen's face shine "like the face of an angel".
Even though these events would lead to Stephen's demise as we will read in the next chapter, they were not in vain. God was able to use Stephen in a tremendous way in which he was able to preach and spread the gospel even under the pressure and attacks by the members of the Synagogue. Through the power and guidance of the Spirit, Stephen was able to maintain his faith, even up to the point of death.
As Christians, we can be encouraged by these events and previous Christians like Stephen and how God worked through them. The Spirit inside us is powerful, and we can be encouraged that He will guide us even during attacks from people opposing Jesus's teachings, or even from the devil himself. It is inevitable that we will face difficulties and opposition from people, but we need to have faith during those times and remember that God is above everything and will help us in difficult situations.
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