PARALLELS (PART 3)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:58-60

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The scene was a place called Golgotha, also nicknamed the Skull because the Romans executed so many people there publicly. Indeed, many had been put to death by way of the cross but none of them carried with them as much fanfare as a man named Jesus. In fact, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, ordered that a sign be placed on Jesus’ cross above where His head would be, proclaiming Him as the king of the Jews. Little did Pilate know just how right he was but he only had it partially correct. For Jesus was not only the King (capital K) of the Jews but also King of all.

Luke says this about Jesus’ crucifixion:

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:33-34

It was a statement that never ceases to leave me awestruck. Jesus had been falsely accused and convicted, brutally assaulted by Roman soldiers to the point where He was unrecognizable in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant, and then nailed to a cross like a criminal, raised up to a chorus of insults and jeers from those gathered.

Any normal person would have hated and despised everyone responsible but Jesus shows us once again that He was no ordinary person. Not by a long shot.  

No, Jesus didn’t condemn. He didn’t call down legions of angels to destroy those who wronged Him. Rather, He simply asked God to forgive His enemies because had they really known who He was, they would have never mistreated Him as they did. They would have worshipped, not assailed the very Son of God.

Going back to Luke’s Gospel, we see Jesus about to die. The author tells us:

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46

The time had come for God’s plan of redemption to reach a pinnacle moment. An atoning sacrifice was needed on an epic scale to purchase the pardon for every single person and Jesus was that sacrifice. And so as the sun stopped shining and the curtain of the temple tore in two, Jesus loudly commits His Spirit to God, His Father, and took His last breath.

If you stopped reading your Bible at the Gospels, you would know that Jesus’ death was paralleled not long after He stopped breathing on Calvary’s cross. You would miss the events that happened at the tail end of Acts, Chapter 7, events that form the focus on this third of four devotions in this series titled “Parallels”.  

For as we look at the closing verses of Acts 7, we find amazing similarities to Jesus’ final moments of life nailed to the cross. There, Stephen facing his own form of execution, this one by way of stoning. Initiated by the Sanhedrin after being angered by Stephen’s pointed declaration of Jesus being in heaven and at God’s right hand, Stephen was dragged out of the city and began to hurl rocks at him.

Like Jesus, his death was one that was grounded in deep pain and agony as the stones were hurled at him, one after another. In the midst of being under attack, did Stephen call curses down on his attackers? Did he call on God to bring judgment upon them?

Not exactly.

For as we read in our scripture passage for today, Stephen falls on his knees and petitions for those assaulting him, saying:

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”     

Sound familiar? 

Like Jesus, Stephen asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness for those who were stoning him.

And seemingly at a peace that is hard to comprehend, he simply prays, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” before he fell asleep and never woke up again.

Jesus and Stephen. Two men who share interesting and astounding parallels.

Tomorrow, we look at the final one as we finish this series.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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