Extreme Forgiveness
About this episode
This episode discusses Stephen's extreme act of forgiveness during his stoning and its implications for the new covenant.
Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, the most defendant-protective court in the ancient world, a court that had just thrown out every one of its own protections to kill him. As the stones fell, Stephen did not cry out for vengeance. He cried out for forgiveness. That single prayer, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin,” marks the moment the new covenant broke the old cycle of compounding vengeance and introduced a gospel of extreme, unreasonable forgiveness. And watching over the coats of the men who killed him stood a young man named Saul, the very man that forgiveness would one day reach.🕊 Key Highlights:• The Sanhedrin was built to protect the accused, yet for Stephen every protocol was abandoned.• Stephen is the only other person in the New Testament besides Jesus to use the title “Son of Man” for Christ.• Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance. Stephen’s dying prayer cried out for forgiveness. That is the difference between the old covenant and the new.• Cain’s line multiplied vengeance sevenfold, then seventy times sevenfold. Jesus reversed that math when He told Peter to forgive seventy times seven.• Stephen’s final words were not prayed to the Father like Jesus on the…
People in this episode
Host: Awakening Church
Topics covered
- forgiveness
- Christianity
- New Testament
- covenant
- vengeance
- Stephen
- Saul
Keywords
- forgiveness
- Stephen
- Saul
- Sanhedrin
- New Testament
- covenant
- vengeance
- Jesus
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Sanhedrin
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- Acts of the Apostles - Raising Up Christian Leaders
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- Acts of the Apostles: Giving God's Way
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