This week we finally finished our deep dive into Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 and witnessed his stoning (or lynching, depending on how you look at it). We discussed Stephen’s vision that he had prior to his stoning and the specific title he used for Jesus: Son of Man. We observed the people take the law…
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This week we got back to where we had left off with the “peroratio” (i.e., conclusion) of Stephen’s speech in Acts 7. It’s at this point the reason for his rehashing the history of Israel becomes crystal clear: Stephen has been building a case not merely to proclaim his innocence, but also to prove the…
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This week we continued our in-depth study of Stephen’s defense speech before the Sanhedrin. Once again, Stephen focused on leaders who worshipped God pre-Temple and outside of the promised land. As he recounted Moses’ defining moments, he made it clear that: he was not anti-Moses; Moses met with God outside the promised land; and Moses…
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Have you ever wondered why Stephen reviewed Israel’s history with the experts in the Law? Did he not realize they already knew these stories? Probably by memory? Or was he doing something else? This week we read through Stephen’s entire speech, his murder, and what happened as a result of it. Because this was an…
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This week we finished up with Acts chapter 5, and there was much rejoicing! We took a step outside the Christian bubble to look at this section from the angle of the Sanhedrin. We discussed the irony in their refusal to speak the name of Jesus and how Gamaliel’s response to the situation was probably…
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This week our guest teacher, Craig Bondy, guided the class in a more accurate understanding of the high priesthood in the Old Testament versus that of first century Judea. Building on this, we looked up a number of passages in the Gospels and Acts which refer to the High Priest as either Annas or Caiaphas….
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