Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
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.
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

• Acts 6:1-15

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Acts 6 ‘with growth, trouble may brew’: “Already in the early days, Jesus’ followers faced problems about how to run things. From the beginning they had shared their resources, a sign that they knew they were called to live as a single family. But how is that going to work when the family is suddenly double the size you expected it to be? You’re going to have to sort something out pretty quickly. The pressure in the early movement came to a head along the fault line which would continue to be a problem for many years to come: the distinctions between people from different ethnic and linguistic groupings and the question of their relative status within the new movement. Whenever a small number of people try to live together, let alone share resources, sometimes even tiny distinctions of background and culture can loom very large and have serious consequences.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 6:1 ‘multiplying’: “The figure could have reached over 20,000 men and women. Hebrews … Hellenists. “Hebrews” were the native Jewish population of Palestine; “Hellenists” were Jews from the Diaspora. The Hellenists’ absorption of aspects of Greek culture made them suspect to the Palestinian Jews. widows were neglected. The Hellenists believed their widows were not receiving an adequate share of the food the church provided for their care (cf. 1 Tim. 5:3-16).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:1 ‘church administration’: “Having seen the church’s struggles with her enemies, and triumphed with her in her victories, we now come to take a view of the administration of her affairs at home; and here we have, an unhappy disagreement among some of the church-members, which might have been of ill consequence, but was prudently accommodated and taken up in time.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:2 ‘serve tables’: “The word translated ‘tables’ can refer to tables used in monetary matters (cf. Matt. 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:15), as well as those used for serving meals. To be involved either in financial matters or in serving meals would take the Twelve away from their first priority (see note on v. 4).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:3 ‘seven men’: “These were not deacons in terms of the later church office (1 Tim. 3:8—13), although they performed some of the same duties. Stephen and Philip (the only ones of the seven mentioned elsewhere in Scripture) clearly were evangelists, not deacons. Acts later mentions elders (14:23; 20:17), but not deacons. It seems, therefore, that a permanent order of deacons was not established at that time.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:4 ‘Praying and the ministry of the Word’: “Prayer and the ministry of the Word (cf. v. 2) define the highest priorities of church leaders.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:6 ‘prayed … laid hands on them.’: “This expression was used of Jesus when He healed (Mark 6:5; Luke 4:40; 13:13; cf. 28:8) and sometimes indicated being taken prisoner (5:18; Mark 14:46). In the OT, offerers of sacrifices laid their hands on the animal as an expression of identification (Lev. 8:14, 18, 22; Heb. 6:2). But in the symbolic sense, it signified the affirmation, support, and identification with someone and his ministry. See 1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22; 2 Tim. 1:6; cf. Num. 27:23.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:8-15 ‘Stephen’: “Stephen, no doubt was diligent and faithful in the discharge of his office as distributor of the church’s charity, and laid out himself to put that affair in a good method, which he did to universal satisfaction; and though it appears here that he was a man of uncommon gifts, and fitted for a higher station, yet, being called to that office, he did not think it below him to do the duty of it. And, being faithful in a little, he was entrusted with more; and, though we do not find him propagating the gospel by preaching and baptizing, yet we find him here called out to very honourable services, and owned in them.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:9 ‘Synagogues’: “It seems that this verse describes three synagogues: the Synagogue of the Freedmen, a second composed of Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and a third composed of those from Cilicia and Asia. Cultural and linguistic differences among the three groups make it unlikely they all attended the same synagogue. Synagogue. These were meeting places which began in the intertestamental period where the dispersed Jews (usually Hellenists), who did not have temple access, could meet in their community to worship and read the OT.  See … Mark 1:21. Freedmen. Descendants of Jewish slaves captured by Pompeii (63 BC) and taken to Rome. They were later freed and formed a Jewish community there. Cyrenians. Men from Cyrene, a city in North Africa. Simon, the man conscripted to carry Jesus’ Cross, was a native of Cyrene (Luke 23:26). Alexandrians. Alexandria, another major North African city, was located near the mouth of the Nile River. The powerful preacher Apollos was from Alexandria (18:24). Cilicia and Asia. Roman provinces in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Since Paul’s hometown (Tarsus) was located in Cilicia, he probably attended this synagogue. Disputing with Stephen. The word translated ‘disputing’ signifies a formal debate. They no doubt focused on such themes as the death and Resurrection of Jesus, and the OT evidence that He was the Messiah.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:11 ‘blasphemous words against Moses and God’: “Unable to prevail over Stephen in open debate, his enemies resorted to deceit and conspiracy. As with Jesus (Matt. 26:59—61), they secretly recruited false witnesses to spread lies about Stephen. The charges were serious, since blasphemy was punishable by death (Lev. 24:16)”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 6:15 ‘face of an angel’: “Pure, calm, unruffled composure, reflecting the presence of God (cf. Ex. 34:29-35).”

 

My Thoughts

In the comments from Rev. MacArthur, I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of “waiting tables.”  I think it meant the administration of a community: food, shelter, logistics, etc.

But I disagree that he classifies Stephen and Philip as the evangelists and the others as the worker bees.

That is what gets a lot of our churches in trouble.  “I am an elder.  I tell others what to do.  I do not get my hands dirty.”  Or “I am on this mission trip to put up dry wall.  Do not expect me to talk about my faith.  That is what the preacher is for.”

We pigeonhole people.  We categorize people.  We decide this person or that person is only good for one thing.  I organized the church family dinners for two or three years.  The team that was supposed to clean up afterwards might put the tables and chairs away, but they were gone by the time the water got hot to wash the dishes.  But one lady always stayed, even if her husband was already at home watching TV.  She, my wife, and I did a lot of dishes.  She later became a very good elder.

Now the apostles did the important work.  They had been called by Jesus.  They had become indwelled with the Holy Spirit.  Maybe the reason the church grew so fast is that these people who had walked with Jesus were teaching and more importantly, probably praying more each day than our present elders do in a month.  But to play that “Pray and teach” card is lame these days, and there is no evidence that they pray, and I never see those people in Sunday school, much less teaching Sunday school.

A little harsh?  Yes, but not much of an exaggeration.

As for the mission work, I have been chastised for talking about my faith.  “You might offend someone!”  No, if we are putting a new roof on this guy’s house, he will not be offended for telling him our motivation in doing the work for free.

I think all seven of these men talked to people as they did their chores.  What better excuse to talk to people where a lot of people are gathered than to volunteer to go to the market at just the right time to have the most people there, and buy the vegetables for the evening meal?  Yeah, I think Stephen went on the grocery run, and Philip went to the surrounding areas for comparative shopping.

Notice that even priests were joining the list of disciples of Jesus.

But then, some people, Freedmen, bristled at what Stephen was saying.  The Freedmen were the lowest class in Jerusalem.  The Hellenistic Jews had it bad, and even among the new converts to Christianity, they had not gotten this thing down about sharing equally.  But the Freedmen of all people concocted a bunch of lies.  They claimed Stephen blasphemed.  They said Jesus was going to tear down the Jewish structure and throw out the Mosaic Law.  It sounds a lot like what the priests and Pharisees did to Jesus, just a few months before.

But in the midst of these accusations, Stephen remained calm.  The Holy Spirit was starting to give him the words he would say in his defense.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Acts 6:1-7 The Choosing of the Seven 1. What secondary issues hinder your church from fulfilling Acts 1:8? What principles here could help you free the church for a wider mission?
Acts 6:8-15 Stephen Seized 1. What two adjectives best describe your spiritual life? What would be different if you were ‘full of grace and power’?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Acts 6 is divided into two questions as noted above.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.