And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel
- a play of heavenly radiance attesting to all who beheld his countenance the divine calm of the spirit within-the fruit of the felt presence of his glorified Lord. This shining countenance (says Chrysostom) was the glory of Moses too; and Humphry well observes that, as if in refutation of the charge of hostility to Moses, he receives the same mark of divine favour which had been vouchsafed to Moses (Exodus 34:30) - "And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid, to come nigh him."
Remarks:
(1) 'How prominently (we here adopt the excellent remark of Lechler) does the truth here stand before us, that the Word of God, and that only, is the means of salvation in the Church of Christ! The apostles firmly resisted the temptation to lose themselves in a Martha-service - "caring about many things," and to become engrossed therein, with a view to put a stop to the discontent. On the contrary, they make for themselves only freer hands and more ample leisure for the ministry of the Word. This is the apostolic calling. This is their chief business - "the ministry of reconciliation." The apostolic Church approves itself as the Church of the Word; and every Church which will be truly apostolical must also be a Church of the Word. The more the Word of God steps behind the word of man-behind ceremonies, behind human rules and ordinances of the Church, behind affairs of government and mechanical service-the more is it removed from what it should be.'
(2) How easily may misunderstandings arise among the most loving and devoted followers of the Lord Jesus; but yet how quickly and effectually may these be healed where honest intentions, love, and wisdom reign? In the present case the multitude of converts, all pouring in the proceeds of their sold property into a common stock at the apostles' feet, and their raw and but half consolidated state for some time, would seem imperatively to demand the personal superintendence of the apostles at the daily distribution of what the necessitous required. But as this could hardly have gone beyond a general oversight, and the work would no doubt be gotten through as speedily as possible, it is easy to see how, with the best intentions, irregularities might occur, and apparent partialities be shown. Nor is there any good reason to doubt that a preference for the native poor-representing the majority of the needy-over those of foreign extraction may have been half-unconsciously shown. But what a beautiful model for imitation in all similar cases does the choice of this assembly furnish! Though we have reason to think that the majority of them belonged to the class complained of, they choose (as would seem) the whole of the new distributors from among the complaining minority. By this, whether the complaint was well or ill-founded, they effectually put an end to it, and restored confidence and harmony to the whole body.
(3) How superior to the lust of power do the apostles here show themselves to be, in not only divesting themselves of the immediate superintendence of temporal affairs in the Christian community (though the responsibility for its general well-being they could not shake off), but giving the choice of those who were to be entrusted with this temporal oversight to the disciples at large!
(4) How little of formal organization did the apostles give to the Church at first, and when an emergency arose which demanded something more, how entirely was the remedy suggested by the reason of the thing! Had the life and prosperity of the Church depended upon hierarchical orders, ritual observances, and mechanical arrangements, how differently would the apostles have acted! But if it depended as we have seen that it did (Remark 1), on the Word-preached and received in the power of the Spirit-then did the apostles act, in relation to all external matters, just as might have been expected-providing for them as the occasion demanded, and only as the necessities of each case required.
(5) Though the new office-bearers are not expressly called Deacons here, it is universally admitted that this was the first institution of that order in the Church; the success of the expedient securing its permanency, and the qualifications for "the office of a deacon" being laid down in one of the apostolic letters immediately after that of "a bishop" (1 Timothy 3:8-13). For a considerable time they appear to have been known only as "the seven," from their original number (Acts 21:8); and it must have been only as the need of such church officers came to be felt elsewhere, and the number seven was not adhered to, that the name "deacon" became their fixed official designation, either given or acquiesced in by the apostles.
(6) Though the equitable distribution of the means of temporal support to the needy was the sole object of the first institution of deacons in the Church, the standard of qualification laid down for this office is notably high. First, they were to be of "honest report" - of good reputation. It was not enough that they should be good; they must have a character for goodness among their fellows. Without this the whole influence, even of real excellence, upon others is neutralized. And if this be true of private, it is more so of official life. In the present-case, the confidence entertained by the needy themselves in those set apart to supply their wants was plainly the principal secret of their satisfaction with the change, and the general harmony that resulted. And if a good reputation is requisite in an office so humble as that of a deacon of the Church, much more surely in "pastors and teachers." But next, they were required to be "full of the Holy Spirit," which can mean nothing less than eminent for spiritual gifts-such as faith, love, zeal, humility. Nor is the need for such qualities in those who go in and out before the people as bearers of office, however humble, a whit less now than it was then.
Lastly, they were to be men of "wisdom," without which neither a name for worth, nor the highest spirituality, are sufficient qualifications for ecclesiastical office. In the distribution of alms in any form, sound judgment is indispensable; and the apostles showed their own judgment in demanding this of those who were to relieve them of the burden they had until then to bear. But the higher the official position which anyone occupies in the Church, so much the more important is this qualification of "wisdom." For want of it, how much energy and zeal are misdirected, and what a fruitless expenditure of heavy labour and precious resources is seen from time to time in the Church of Christ!
(7) The whole conduct of Stephen's opponents-in first trying to silence him by argument, and when this failed, raising against him a storm of popular indignation, suborning men to swear against him false charges of hostility to the faith divinely committed to their fathers-is so entirely in keeping with the procedure of the same class toward our Lord before, and toward His apostles and others afterward, and with the spirit which the nation has evinced toward Christ ever since, that this most life-like part of the narrative will at once be seen to attest its own historical accuracy. But the sequel of this history will furnish even more striking illustrations of this remark.
(8) How easily can unscrupulous malignity pervert the truth, even when professing, with the utmost plausibility, only to express it! Just as the charge brought against our Lord, at His trial before the Sanhedrim, regarding the destruction of the temple, would, to a superficial hearer, have a considerable appearance of truth, and yet was so false that even the high priest would not condemn Him upon it; so the charge against Stephen, of hostility to Moses and the religion of his fathers, while it had apparent ground in the principal scope of his preaching, was thoroughly false, and by himself afterward proved to be so. Calvin, in a fine comment upon Acts 6:14 of this chapter, warns those who were associated with him in the work of Reformation not to think it unreasonable that those wounds which Satan was permitted to inflict even upon the, Son of God should reach to them also. 'When,' says he, 'we teach that men are so depraved as to be the captives of sin and evil lusts, straightway our enemies raise the calumny that we deny men to be voluntary sinners, and hold them to be so impelled to evil as to be free of blame, and extinguish in ourselves all motive to well-doing. Because we deny to the good works of the saints all strictly meritorious worth, inasmuch as they have always some defect in them, we are charged with destroying the distinction between good and bad works. Because we say that the righteousness of man is rounded on the grace of God alone, and that the souls of the godly can rest only on the death of Christ, they charge us with giving loose reins to the flesh, and making the law of no more use. Hard indeed it is (he adds) to lie under such charges; but we must not be scared away by them from the defense of the good cause. For precious to God is His own truth; and it should be to us, although to them that perish it be the savour of death unto death (2 Corinthians 2:16).'