Stoning Essays - Capital Punishment, Stoning, Torture, Saint Stephen

Stoning Of Stephen The Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60) With the stoning of Stephen we have the first martyr of the Christian church. The word martyr is defined as a person who dies rather than renounce a religion; a person who makes a great sacrifice for the sake of principle. Stephen was that and much more. Stephen was brought in front of the Sanhedrin on false charges by the high priest. The high priest were persecuting the apostles because they were spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the high priest asked Stephen about the charges him began to preach to them. They became extremely upset and decided to stone him. The men who were persecuting Stephen were said to be gnashing upon him with their teeth. Matthew Henry says that this denotes great vexation within themselves; they fretted to see in him such manifest tokens of a divine power and presence, and it vexed them to the heart. The wicked shall see it and be grieved, he shall gnash with his teeth and melt away, (Ps. 112:10). Gnashing with the teeth is often use to express the horror and torments of the damned. Those that have the malice of hell cannot but have with it some of the pains of hell. This shows that the men who were getting ready to stone Stephen knew that what Stephen was preaching was right. They felt conviction and in turn decided to stone him. Stephen was a man of God so he knew that God would do as he wished in this situation. Stephen was at piece while all this was going on. "While his hearers gave vent to their annoyance, Stephen remained calm, full controlled as before by the Spirit of God." He was not afraid because his God was in control. Henry says "As his persecutor were full of Satan, so was he full of the Holy Ghost, fuller than ordinary, anointed with fresh oil for the combat, that, as the day, so might the strength be." The Holy Spirit came upon Stephen in his time of need. Because Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit he looked heavenward. He was not interested in the men getting ready to stone him but he was interested in his Father. "They had their eyes fixed upon him, full of malice and cruelty; but he looked up to heaven, and never minded them, was so taken up with the eternal life now in prospect that he seemed to have no manner of concern for the natural life now at state." Stephen was looking forward to being home with his Father. Through all of this Stephen still kept the second greatest commandment. That is love you neighbor as yourself. In the midst of being stoned he still had the love of God in him for the people stoning him. He said to God in verse 60, " Lord, do not hold this sin against them." In these words we see how Stephen shows the character of Jesus. "There was yet another of our Lord's words from the cross echoed by Stephen. For, on his knees among the flying stones, he made his last appeal to the heavenly court?not this time for his own vindication but for mercy toward his executioners." In this story we as Christians have a perfect of example of what it means to be totally sold out to Christ. Stephen was doing the work of the Lord by spreading the gospel. When he was persecuted for it he did not back down or run into a corner and hide. Instead he stood boldly for Christ. He knew that he would face death but that did not matter to him because he could not deny Christ. In his time of need the Holy Spirit came upon him and anointed him with peace. We also see God's love for all in Stephen when he asked in verse sixty that the Lord not hold it against them. Stephen was truly a man of God.

If You Can’t Bless It, Change It.

If You Can’t Bless It, Change It. This season of the Jewish New Year brings much reflection on the past year and how we want to live our lives in the future. Most of us know that gratitude is key to living a satisfied life, and this holiday season my rabbi in Madison, Laurie Zimmerman, focused on this subject in her sermon. She related a story by Mitchell Chefitz in which a newly graduated â€Å"Officer of the Law† encountered a man in rags.  He commanded the man three times to Come forward! to no effect.  Finally the man in rags said, â€Å"I dont know what Im going to do with you. Do with me? the Officer of the Law mocked.  Do with me?  You dont do with me! I do with you!  I am an Officer of the Law, and I command you to come forward. Now I know what to do with you, the man in rags said, and as he spoke, he drew his sword.  A swordfight followed in which, after putting up a good fight, the man in rags lowered his guard, and the Officer of the Law’s sword mistakenly ran through him.  As the man died, he said, I put upon you the Curse of Blessings. Every day you must say a new blessing, one you have never said before. And on the day you do not say a new blessing, you will die. The man in rags closed his eyes and then disappeared, and the Officer of the Law wondered whether his experience were real. But as the sun set, he felt life leaving him and in a panic uttered a blessing over the sunset. Life flowed back into him.  From that day on, he said a new blessing every day, blessing abilities, then concrete things, relationships, and more. Word spread throughout the land that this previously pompous Officer of the Law was a source of blessing. He kept blessing the miracles of the world and found more and more things to bless. Finally, he was about to turn 120 years old and decided on his birthday not to make a new blessing but to recount some of the blessings he had made before. As the sun set, he felt a chill coming into his body and did not utter a blessing. Then appeared the man in rags. You! the Officer of the Law exclaimed. I have thought about you every day for a hundred years!  I never meant to harm you.  Please, forgive me. You dont understand, said the man in rags.  You dont know who I am, do you? I am the angel who was sent a hundred years ago to harvest your soul, but when I looked at you, so pompous and proud, there was nothing there to harvest.  An empty uniform was all I saw.  So I put upon you the Curse of Blessings, and now look what youve become! The Officer of the Law could not help but say, I feel blessed, dear God, that You have kept me alive and sustained me so I could attain this moment of insight. Now look what youve done! the man in rags said in frustration. A new blessing! Life flowed back into the Officer of the Law, and he and the man in rags looked to each other, neither of them knowing quite what to do. (Paraphrased from â€Å"The Curse of Blessings† in The Curse of Blessings: Sometimes, the Right Story Can Change Your Life by Mitchell Chefitz, 2006.) The rabbi also recounted a tale of the crossing of the Red Sea. In the midst of this great miracle, two people, Reuven and Shimon, did not celebrate, but rather cursed the mud, saying it was just like Egypt. â€Å"Their eyes turned downwards, while the greatest of miracles was happening all around them.† So often, like the pre-swordfight Officer of the Law, and like Reuven and Shimon, we don’t notice the blessings in our lives. We focus on what’s missing, on the negative. We become self-absorbed. This way of life drains the life from us, making us heartless and cold. In contrast, waking up and saying a new blessing, showing gratitude consistently, brings us warmth and life, carries us into the present so we’re not living in the past or the future, and draws people closer to us. We become someone people appreciate and want to be around. Marge Piercy’s poem, â€Å"The Art of Blessing the Day,† encourages us to create a life full of blessings: â€Å"Bless whatever you can / with eyes and hands and tongue. If you / cant bless it, get ready to make it new.† At this time of reflection, I encourage you to find and express the blessings in your life, and to live as much as possible in the present. And, if you can’t bless it, change it. For me, that’s the way to create a life I want to live. A life that inspires me to jump out of bed in the morning excited to bless something new.