5. The Choice of the Seven

 

In the first part of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke, the narrator, presented an ideal situation of the early Christian community where all were of one heart and one soul. From chapter 6 begins a new part of the story with the broadening of horizons and the departure of the Christian community from Jerusalem to the surrounding regions. This opportunity to get out is linked to a particular persecution because of the presence of a Hellenistic Christian group.

Luke presents a contrasting situation that has arisen within the Christian group and this conflict arose out of charitable issues for the distribution of goods to the poor, particularly widows. In the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles we have been informed that the original community had decided to keep everything in common, many sold their goods and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, that is, they offered the group leaders the opportunity to distribute the money according to the needs of each one. They were presented with the positive example of Barnabas who sold his land and offered the proceeds to the apostles. These community-managed assets were used to help people in difficulty, especially the poor, those who did not have social support. Widows were traditionally the emblem of poverty in Israel because the woman, remaining a widow, did not inherit of her husband, but lost her property rights and therefore, had to be received again by the family of origin or, in the absence of relatives, was socially abandoned if she had no male children that could inherit the father’s estate.

In the first years two groups differentiated by language were formed in the Christian community. It is a particular attitude that we must take into account in order to know and distinguish because it was a decisive element in the history of the first Christian community. All those who adhered to Jesus by recognizing him as the Messiah, are composed of Hebrews, yet the Jews living in Jerusalem had two different languages; some continued to use the traditional Hebrew of the Scriptures, but many other Jews who came from the Diaspora, that is, from the dispersion throughout the then known world, spoke Greek; These Greek-speaking Jews were called Hellenists.

Some Hebrew-speaking Christians as well as some Greek-speaking Christians were converted to Christianity and, therefore, the Christian community automatically inherited this duplication of language and, as they did not understand each other easily, they preferred to have separate activities, there were Hebrew-speaking synagogues and Greek-speaking synagogues. Therefore, Christians from the beginning had moments of meeting, of prayer, of Bible reading between those who spoke Hebrew and those who spoke Greek.

The economic conflict arises precisely because the Hellenistic widows complain recognizing that in the distribution of goods they were neglected. It is possible that being the Twelve Hebrew-speaking, they knew the people of their linguistic environment better and that Christians who belonged to the Hellenistic group were less well known. Lack of knowledge determined this neglect. The problem, therefore, is simply a spark that triggers an important awareness. The Christian community is articulated in these two groups that need different guidance. And this is why other leaders are elected.

It is decided to elect seven men to be responsible for the Hellenistic group. Often in the tradition these seven have been called ‘deacons’. The term is perhaps not appropriate because ‘deacon’ is a technical term to indicate one of the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders: we distinguish deacons, priests and bishops; these Seven are not comparable to our current deacons; they are the leaders of the Hellenistic group; they are another group of leaders parallel to ‘the Twelve’.

I prefer to use the numerical term. As we indicate the apostles by calling them ‘the Twelve,’ we should also call the leaders of the Hellenistic group ‘the Seven.’ Let’s notice a difference in numbers. They could have chosen 12 as responsible, instead, they start with a symbolic number, 7 which differs from 12 precisely for a symbolic reason. Twelve is the number of Israel; they were the ancient tribes and the apostles of Christ are 12 because they remember the continuity with Israel and the newness of the people. On the other hand, 7 is a number of universality, of plenitude and by electing 7 as leaders of the Hellenists, it means giving a universalistic note, that is, of openness to all peoples.

When this election occurs, Luke does not know; chapter 6 begins, where he relates these events with a generic expression: “At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.” We can imagine that this event took place a few years after Jesus’ Passover, which in all probability we place on the year 30.

We are, therefore, in the first phase of the apostolic mission when all Christians are still present in Jerusalem and they have no intention of leaving. They are rooted in Jewish culture, reside in Jerusalem and remain awaiting the glorious coming of Christ. They have not conceived a universal mission project. But, slowly, the Lord guides history and Luke, who writes fifty years later, narrated these facts having reviewed the various events, he realizes that the hand of God has been behind some situations; and, as a historian and theologian, he narrates some facts that he considers decisive. They are the knots of historical fact.

In this situation, therefore, of discontent between Hellenists and Jews, the apostles decide to choose seven men that are competent and approved by the people. Let us note that if at first, for the election of Matthias as the twelfth apostle was discerned by invoking fate, now the apostles assume the responsibility of choosing these men. They want them to be capable and enjoy a good reputation. Let them be wise men, full of the Holy Spirit. The list of these seven characters is narrated. The first is Stephen and the other six follow. All typically Greek names: “Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas”.

These 7 are given the task of serving at the tables; but this is not the only task; they are responsible for the charitable distribution to the widows, to the poor in general of the Hellenistic group; but they also have preaching tasks, of proclamation, so much so that it is said of Stephen and Philip that they have no activities of charity but of preaching; they are two new characters that preach the gospel of Jesus.

Chapters 6 and 7 and the beginning of chapter 8, put as the center of attention the character of Stephen who seems that as the first of the Seven, is a little the equivalent of Peter who is the first of the Twelve, and his role as an influential and decisive preacher inside the Jewish synagogue. As he is called ‘deacon’ and in past practice the deacons were only seminarians in the last year of the itinerary towards the presbyterate, so we end up attributing to Stephn a very young age; generally represented as a twenty-year-old, precisely because the deacons of the past were the 22 or 23-year-old seminarians who became such and lasted in the diaconate only a few months before becoming a priest. Today, perhaps, we are used to permanent deacons, and we can familiarize ourselves with the image of adult or elderly men that they remain deacons for life and, therefore, we would not make that mistake that people committed before us.

I mean, we don’t know the age of Stephen and since he is an authority in the synagogue, we cannot imagine him as a young man in his twenties; he is not a seminarian, he is a teacher, he is at least a middle-aged man if not an old man; he is an authorized person who became a Christian in the early years after Christ’s Passover. As he listened to the preaching of the apostles will have sought, informed and joined, accepted the person of Jesus as Messiah and being an expert in the Scriptures he searched the biblical texts for those that confirmed the preaching of Jesus.

Most likely Stephen was a very precious acquisition for the Christian community because he was the educated person, with an important role in the Hellenistic synagogues, which are those meetings of the Greek-speaking Jews. They read the Bible in Greek and explained it and, having become a Christian, continued to carry out his ministry in the synagogue as a teacher and took opportunities to present that Jesus is Christ according to the Scriptures. This greatly disturbed the Jewish authorities. If the apostles were considered simple commoners, ignorant, now in front of a man as Stephen, they could not dismiss him with a joke of self-sufficiency.

Stephen has authority to speak in the Sanhedrin, to counter the accusations. In fact, the narrator says that they “could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.” And the fundamental argument that Stephen proposes is the messianism of Jesus. “Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people.” It is the same phrase that Luke has already used for the apostles in general. Stephen is a new one who has joined the group of the Seven and begins to do what the apostles did. “Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen.”

It is the synagogue of those who speak Greek. People from Cyrene are those from Libya, around Cyrene; Alexandrians come from Egypt and from the great city of Alexandria; Cilicia is the region of Tarsus from which Paul also comes; Asia is the area of Ephesus. In Jerusalem there are Greek-speaking Jews coming from various cities of the Mediterranean and is a speech between theology professors who dispute with Stephen “but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.”

Therefore, they tried the same path they had used a few years earlier against Jesus: paid for false evidence to accuse the dangerous nature of a violation of the law. The accusation against Stephen is similar to the one that had been brought against Jesus; he is accused of challenging the temple, to subvert the Law of Moses. In reality, Stephen teaches what Jesus taught and had a critical position towards the temple in Jerusalem and also towards the law of Moses.

Luke, therefore, relates in chapter 7, a long speech that is put in Esteban’s mouth… 50 verses in which this professor summarizes the history of Israel, reviews the different periods and emphasizes strongly the disobedience of the people and ends the speech with some quotes of the Old Testament that are critical of the temple and highlight the stubbornness of the listeners. The speech ends with a harsh polemic: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors.”

This speech is the drop that made the glass run over, and the Sanhedrin believes that the accusations against Stephen are well founded. “When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. The climax is given by a strong testimony from Stephen who says he sees the heavens open and Jesus at the right hand of God. It is a phrase similar to the one Jesus himself pronounced in front of the high priest, who is still Caiaphas, and the same environment in which Jesus was questioned; they are the same people who acted as judges against Jesus who now listen to Stephen and feel the same thing that is reaffirmed; and as had already happened then, the death penalty was imposed on him.

They accuse Stephen of blasphemy and condemn him to death. Without waiting, they take him out with violence and abandon him to the fury of the people, some fanatics, moved by some capable agitator, attack Stephen and they stone him, kill him with stones. Also present is a certain Saul of Tarsus who takes care of the cloaks of those who stone Stephen.

Luke presents two words from Stephen dying that make him look very much like Jesus: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” says the victim while he is being stoned and dying he prays saying “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Stephen continued the work of Jesus, lived like Jesus, spoke the words of Jesus, and dies like Jesus, that is, with the same attitude, with the same confidence, repeating the style of Jesus.

Stephen is a true disciple in life and death and Luke presents him to us as an ideal character, courageous, herald of the gospel to the point of losing his life for defending the truth of Jesus. Saul was there and approved Stephen’s death. But who is this Saul who suddenly appears in this scene? We will find him later and he will be a very important character.