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Peter and Stephen were two men blessed by God and called to proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ. Both were faithful and fearless in the face of intense persecution. The main difference between their ministries is that when Peter preached, thousands accepted Christ; and when Stephen preached, he was martyred. By worldly standards of success, Peter would be adjudged far more “successful” than Stephen.
But Christ’s treatment of Stephen is instructive. In Acts 7 we read that Stephen, “full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Why was Jesus standing? In Hebrews 10:12 we read that “when this priest [Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” Jesus stood up as if to welcome the first martyr in recorded history. It was a sign of acknowledgment and highest honor. Jesus promised, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” Stephen confessed Christ before men, and then he saw Christ acknowledging him before the Father in heaven. There is no greater honor than the King of the universe standing up to welcome a faithful servant into his presence.
A careful examination of their ministries shows that both Peter and Stephen made transformational contributions to the spread of the gospel. Peter’s preaching converted many thousands, and Stephen’s martyrdom paved the way for a great expansion of the Jerusalem church: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
The word “scattered” is used again a few verses later: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” The word “scattered” (Greek: diaspeiro) in these verses is the same root word used to describe the way the farmer spreads seed in the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20; Matt 13:4; Luke 8:1-15). The believers were spread throughout the region like seed, and they themselves spread the seed of the Word throughout the world—just as Jesus commanded them in Acts 1:8. May we, as present-day followers of Christ, be obedient to spread the seed of God’s great love wherever we’re planted.