Acts 6:5-7 (NIV)
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
The entire community saw the wisdom of the apostles’ recommendation to choose seven men, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to oversee the distribution of food to the widows in the Church, freeing up the apostles to focus on their primary callings of prayer and the ministry of the word So the people went to work.
After prayerful consideration and discussion, the whole community agreed on seven men, interestingly all with Greek names. But the people didn’t worry that these men would turn the tables and start favoring the Greek-speaking widows to the disadvantage of the Aramaic-speaking widows. These men were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, so the people had absolute confidence that they would fulfill their calling with integrity and fairness.
So, they brought these men to the apostles. And the apostles prayed over them, gave them authority by laying their hands on them, and then sent them forth to do the work that God had called them to do. The result of this was that the work of the kingdom was able to continue strongly forward, without being hobbled by divisions and in-fighting. More people believed in Jesus and became part of the Church.
This increase included a large group of Jewish priests. This seemingly insignificant note is actually very significant, because all priests in Jesus’ day were Sadducees, descendants of the priest Zadok. These were men whose original belief system rejected a belief in resurrection from the dead and in the writings of the prophets, many of whom had foretold Jesus’ appearing, life, death, resurrection and ascension. The fact that these priests were now believing in Jesus shows that the evidence of His life, as well as the testimony and actions of the apostles, had caused them to reconsider everything they had been taught, opening their hearts to being willing to believe in Jesus.
Father, often we don’t realize how many people are watching us, seeing how we act, listening to what we say, and looking at how we resolve our issues in the Church. They are looking for something true, and our actions and attitudes will either confirm the truth of our testimony about who Jesus is and what He has done in our lives, or they will contradict all of that and show that we are not different than they are. These priests, in all their looking and watching, saw the clear evidence of the truth and were persuaded. Help our lives to testify as clearly as our lips about who You are and what You have accomplished in our lives. Amen.
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