Echoes of Good Friday
Stephen and the Moment all of Heaven Stood
Today is Good Friday—the day Christ died for us.
But do you know the first person to die FOR Christ?
It wasn’t one of the 12 Disciples.
It was a humble table servant.
And far from silencing the Church, his death launched it.
His name was Stephen. He didn’t write Scripture. He didn’t plant churches. He served the poor. He spoke the truth. And when the moment came, he refused to back down. What happened in his final moments changed everything.
The early Church was small but growing. They prayed, broke bread, and healed the sick—but they hadn’t been tested by blood. Only Jesus had died thus far. But that would soon change.
Serving the poor was core to the early Church’s mission. To help, the 12 Disciples appointed seven men to handle the daily distributions of food to widows in the community. The first on the list was Stephen, “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 6:5)
Stephen turned out to be more than faithful—he was powerful. “Full of God’s grace and power, [he] was doing great signs and wonders among the people.” (Acts 6:8) But like Christ before him, his actions threatened the Jewish temple elite. The leaders began plotting his demise. First, the leaders from the Synagogue tried to debate him. “But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.” (Acts 6:10) So they resorted to lies. And false charges. And a rigged trial. Sound familiar?
Yet, Stephen stood tall before the Sanhedrin—the same high court that sentenced Jesus. And in those tense moments as Stephen testified, something strange happened: “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 6:15)
Stephen boldly spoke truth—even at the cost of his life. Pausing in the middle of his trial, he looked up and declared, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56) The significance was profound: everywhere else in the New Testament, Christ is seated at God’s right hand—but here, and only here is He standing.
Jesus stood to let Stephen know he was not alone, even in death.
Jesus stood to receive the man who would become the Church’s first Martyr.
The King of Kings rose to applaud a humble table server filled with grace and truth.
It was too much. The court erupted in fury. They dragged him outside the city, picked up stones, and killed him. Curiously, Scripture tells us of one notable bystander… “And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7:58)
As he faced death, Stephen prayed, echoing Christ’s own words from the cross: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:59-60) Stephen was the first follower of Christ to give his life for the risen King.
In the wake of his death, violence erupted. “A great persecution arose… and the Church was scattered.” (Acts 8:1) But everywhere they went, they preached. Stephen’s death didn’t silence the believers. His courage was burned into their memory. The Gospel couldn’t be stopped.
And that bystander Saul—the man by the coats—would turn out to be the Apostle Paul, author of most of the New Testament and one of the men most responsible for the growth of the Church he first tried to kill.
Years later, after a dramatic conversion Paul would tell the Church in Corinth: “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord”(2 Cor. 3:18) Glory I believe he remembered seeing on an unveiled face once before watching Stephen be killed.
Stephen didn’t just believe in the resurrection—he embodied it. He became the firstfruits of the risen Christ. He never started a church or wrote any Scripture. He served the poor. He spoke the truth. And died with Christ’s words on his lips—and Christ’s glory on his face.
And when he died…Jesus stood. The King of Kings stood up for a humble servant. For a man the world tried to silence. For the first full witness of the resurrection’s power. He stood because Heaven doesn’t ignore faith like that.
