Acts 7. 55-end; John 14. 1-14
St Stephen is often called ‘the Protomartyr’, the first martyr of the Church. The word martyr simply means ‘a witness’, and the martyrdom of St Stephen is indeed a witness – or an icon – of what Jesus is saying in our Gospel reading this morning.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples four fundamental things: one, he will prepare a place for them in his Father’s house; two, he is the way to the Father; three, they will do the same works as he does; and four, he will do whatever they ask in his name.
The martyrdom of St Stephen is a witness, or icon, of these four things.
First, on the eve of his passion and death, Jesus says to his disciples that he is going ahead to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house, and that he will come again in order to take them to himself. In other words, he is telling them about his death and about his resurrection.
It is precisely this same subject which Stephen has been preaching about before those who conspire to kill him. Namely, the history of God’s ancient people, their repeated rebelliousness and rejection of the prophets, which culminates in the one foretold by the prophets, Jesus, the Righteous One, who is betrayed and murdered by his own people.
In other words, the reason for Stephen’s martyrdom is his witness to the crucified Christ; his witness to the one who prepared a place for his people in the house of our heavenly Father through his death and resurrection.
Secondly, Jesus says that his disciples know the way to his Father’s house, for he himself is the way. Furthermore, to see Jesus is to see the Father, for the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son.
And Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, is blessed with precisely this vision of the Father’s heavenly house opened up before his eyes. He sees Jesus, the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of the glory of God.
But he sees because he is following the way of Christ, which is the way of the cross.
Just like Our Lord, Stephen has been seized and brought before the religious council, as false witnesses from among the scribes and elders have been brought forth, accusing him of blasphemy and saying things against the Temple.
And so, as Stephen sets out on the way of the cross, he sees Jesus and the Father precisely because he is on that way. For this is the way of Christ, the way in which the love of the Father is revealed.
And this is related to the third thing that Jesus says to his disciples. Namely, that the one who believes and trusts in him will also do the works that he does, and even greater works.
This, too, we see in the martyrdom of St Stephen. As he continues along the way of the cross, he also is dragged out of the city of Jerusalem to be executed; and as he is about to die, with those standing around fussing over garments and clothing, Stephen prays, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
In his martyrdom, Stephen is doing the works that Jesus had done; he is sharing in the same work as the one who was forced to carry the cross outside of the city of Jerusalem, had his clothes divided among the soldiers, before crying out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’
Fourthly, and finally, Jesus tells his disciples that he will do whatever they ask in his name.
And what do we see Stephen the Protomartyr asking for? What does the one following the way of cross ask for in the name of Jesus? ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’
The one who has fully entrusted themselves in faith to the Lord, the one who is following the way and works of Jesus, is fully conformed to the image of Christ crucified in their prayer. Their prayer is an echo of Jesus’ prayer for his murderers, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’
In summary, what St Stephen witnesses to in his martyrdom is that the way to the Father – the way which is Christ, the truth and the life – is the way of the cross. And, only as we walk upon this path will we see God; only as we walk upon this path will we truly be able to pray in Christ’s name.
Now, walking the way of the cross is not necessarily about suffering great pain or violence, but about the total surrender of our lives, day by day, to the will of God. It is about sharing in Christ’s word from the cross, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’
But why should we do this? Doesn’t it seem a bit infantile? Why on earth would God want us to surrender ourselves to him?
Because God is what St Augustine called the summum bonum: the highest good, the essence of goodness itself. Our ultimate goal and true happiness can only be found in enjoying God. And, here’s the point, we can only enjoy God if we share in, and are conformed to, his life of self-giving love.
How might we surrender ourselves to such a pattern of self-giving love? Perhaps an answer is offered in the second chapter of St Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, with which I will conclude:
‘Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.’