Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Yesterday when we left off, Stephen had been falsely accused by a group of Jews from another synagogue

that doesn't recognize Jesus as Messiah. Today, as he's

standing before the Sanhedron, they're the ruling council that's kind of like the Supreme Court,

they give him the opportunity to defend himself. But Stephen kind of answers questions the same way

Jesus does, meaning he doesn't give you the information you ask for. He gives you the information

you need to know. Stephen talks for a long time

and doesn't manage to say a single thing about himself in 53 verses. He just gives a synopsis of the

Old Testament storyline as it relates to the gospel. If you were with us in the Old Testament,

it was probably nice to have a refresher, but if you weren't, here's the overarching storyline Stephen

presents.

God keeps pursuing his people, as people keep rejecting him.

They reject and persecute and kill the prophets he sends to speak truth to them.

Most recently, Stephen says,

they've killed the righteous one all the prophets were prophesying about.

As he recounts all the horrible ways God's people have acted in the past, they probably recognize the evil actions of their forefathers. They probably resonate with what he's saying,

but they may not realize he's building through a crescendo where the greatest burden of wickedness

is the one these very people are legally responsible for. The most recent way the people have

rejected God's pursuit is by killing not just

his prophets, but his son. They're furious, of course, filled with rage. Stephen, on the other hand,

is filled with the Holy Spirit and seems to be shockingly at peace. I imagine his face lighting up as

God peels back the curtain of eternity and gives Stephen a glimpse into

...