DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60 (12/27) Epistle for the Feast of the
Protomartyr, Archdeacon Stephen
Christ’s Martyrs: Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60, especially
vs. 55, “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God....” In
his history of the early Church, The Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke
calls his Gospel an account “...of all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day in which He was taken up...” (Acts 1:1,
2). However, Acts is more
than a simple historical or narrative sequel to Saint Luke’s Gospel; for,
in itself, it is an account of what the Lord Jesus continued to do and teach
through His Body, the Church, immediately after He was taken up into Heaven (Lk. 24:51 and Acts 1:9).
In the portrayal of Christ’s Martyr Stephen - as one
“...full of faith and power...” (vs. 6:8),
as one who speaks with “...wisdom and the Spirit...” (vs. 6:10) - our gaze is directed
toward the heavens to behold “...the glory of God, and Jesus standing at
the right hand of God...” (vs. 7:55). Thus, the Lord Jesus Himself is revealed
through the person of His Holy Martyr Stephen.
Just as genuine icons always contain a unity of purpose
between their varied subjects and the Incarnate One, so likewise Saint
Luke’s account of Christ’s first Martyr, Stephen, manifests the
Lord Incarnate in His Church. Let
us look to the account of Saint Stephen’s witness as a faithful
revelation of the Lord of grace and power, of wisdom and the Spirit, and of
eternal Glory at the right hand of the Father. Saint Stephen is the Proto-martyr not
only in the sense of being the first martyr for the Lord Jesus, but also as the
proto-type of Christ’s martyrs; for all of Christ’s true martyrs
reveal the Lord Jesus acting and teaching through His Body, the Church.
The Lord Jesus not only is “...full of grace and
truth” in Himself (Jn. 1:14), but is also the limitless Source of “...grace and
truth...”(Jn.1:17), for He continues to distribute grace and truth to the
faithful by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Thus, that Stephen was “...full of the Holy Spirit...” (Acts
7:55), simply asserts how it was that he could be “...full of faith and
power...” (vs. 6:8).
This same fullness of Christ was evident in
Multitudes who encountered the Lord before “...He was
taken up...” (Acts 1:2) were astonished at His wisdom and asked,
“...'Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given
to Him...'” (Mk. 6:2). Saint
Luke states that the Holy Spirit was “...upon Him...” and filled
Him (Lk. 3:22; 4:1). The same Blessed Spirit of God rests
upon His Body filling us, His Holy Ones, to
“'...be witnesses to [Him]...to the end of the earth'” (Acts 1:8).
Understand that Saint Stephen was a witness to the Lord
Jesus before he shed his blood for Him.
In the original, martys, means witness
and provides us with our word martyr, which now, after centuries of
faithful witnessing - even to death - suggests a witness who dies for the
Faith. May we be faithful witnesses
to Christ, reveal His wisdom, and, if called, share His Cross.
The Lord, the pre-eternal Word, took care to reveal His
Divine glory following His Incarnation: to the Theotokos
even before His birth (Lk. 1:32), to Simeon while He
was an infant (Lk. 2:30-32), to the Forerunner at His
Baptism (Mt. 3:16-17), to Saint Andrew and Saint John the Evangelist (Jn.
1:36), to chosen witnesses on Mount Tabor (Mk. 9:1-7), and, following His Resurrection, to a host of witnesses of
His choosing (1 Cor. 15:5-8). He
also opened the heavens to His first martyr Stephen (Acts 7:55-56), as He often
has to others of His martyrs. May
we also receive Christ the Light by Whose illumination
His martyrs reveal His great glory.
O Holy Martyrs of Christ, by your prayers may we also
faithfully witness to His grace.
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