By Christopher Dryden
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
Acts 8:1-4 NLT
Reading the events of the early church in the book of Acts makes for gripping drama and a fascinating political thriller. The heart of that drama is what the followers of Jesus do with the remarkable news of His Resurrection. For the religious rulers of the day, though, this news was not welcome. Consider it from their perspective.
These upstarts from Galilee were an irritant. They were attracting too much attention. Something had to be done. Severe warnings and public floggings were displayed as examples of what would happen if they did not stop. The final straw was when Stephen had the temerity to stand before them and charge them of being no different to their forefathers who killed the prophets. That was too much, and then the blasphemy of Stephen saying he could see God and Jesus at his right hand riled them to give the ultimate deterrent to these pesky followers of the Rabbi they thought they disposed of permanently.
This show of their religious and political strength would have squashed the sect. Yet God used it to spread the gospel from Jerusalem to nearby Samaria and even further – just as Jesus had instructed.
God’s expansion strategy does not make sense on the surface. Suffering abuse and scorn from the political, social and religious gatekeepers does not seem to be the kind of approach to be expected from the ruler of the universe. Yet the Kingdom of God, as expressed through Jesus, is a heavenly rule that operates on different values to the kingdoms of this world. Where worldly kingdoms and systems only know about “might is right”, God’s kingdom is the only one that operates by righteousness that is life-giving. His Kingdom would spread as those empowered by His life-giving Spirit would demonstrate and declare Him wherever they were.
It is an endearing quality of His Kingdom that His rule is not imposed and maintained on people through social, political and physical force. It is a reassuring quality of His Kingdom that His rule is not squashed by worldly systems that use social, political and physical force.
Although some historical perspectives give the impression that Christianity is hugely influential in countries, the gospel of the Kingdom still faces opposition. Overt opposition in countries with hostility to Christians exercised brutality. There is also covert opposition to the gospel of the Kingdom through efforts to chip away at what it means to follow Jesus either through threats to tone down and remove what He calls for or subtle influences that say political and social favour will be gained if believers trade the righteousness of Jesus to follow the trends of the day. Those who have the temerity to stand up against this can be shamed and silenced individually, but the power of the gospel of the Kingdom can never be shamed or silenced.
Jesus prepared His disciples for opposition – it was always present in His earthly ministry. As He prepared them for it, so He prepares us for it. We should expect it and be heartened to know that this opposition will not stop the building of the church of God. Indeed, we should rejoice as we hear of opposition, that the power of the Kingdom will spread deeper in the hearts of their believers and wider to those who are yet to experience and encounter the risen Saviour.
Ask: What was the opposition that the early church faced?
Seek: What is the opposition you face regarding the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?
Knock: Father, thank You that Your Son declared that on the Rock His church would be built, and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. Help us to be assured of this fact, and trust You that opposition to Your Kingdom will see it spread deeper and wider for Your glory.
