And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
This fact mentioned by Luke seems quite significant, if you ask me. The falsely accused man, Stephen, now stands before the leaders of the Jews and suddenly takes on the appearance of a being from Heaven. The whole council, not just one or two of them, the whole council sees that his face is angelic and no one even mentions it? What were they thinking at this point?
“Hmmmm, that’s odd. Stephen suddenly reminds me of my kind aunt Norma.”
“I’ve never seen an angel but I feel certain that Stephen has suddenly taken on the look of some sort of supernatural being. Probably happens all of the time.”
“Wait. Didn’t we bring an accused man into the council? How did Gabriel get in here?”
I mean, it’s one thing to miss details but totally something else to be spiritually dense. This one who has performed “many amazing miracles” suddenly has the face of a Heavenly being. It is not hyperbole to say that this is profound and momentous, right on the edge of being monumental; yet, these “spiritual leaders” take no note. They move ahead with the inquiry and obviously have no discernment for the spiritual. The false testimony of these lying Jews carries the day. Any search for truth has been abandoned.
When motives are so seriously wrong, even the most obvious spiritual events can be easily missed or “intellectually” explained away. It happens all of the time. So, instead of being ready to hear God’s truth and be changed, they are instantly offended when the truth convicts them. Stephen follows by preaching a gospel sermon calling these men out for their sin and their response is to shut him up by killing him. They have a history of such. It isn’t the first time religious leaders in Jerusalem railroaded an innocent man. It’s both sad and terrifying when the motives of so-called spiritual leaders are corrupted. The consequences are grave. Pardon the pun.
We must remain tender to the supernatural clues and work of God. I confess that this has become more of a test for me as I have aged. There are so many who attempt to take advantage of innocent hearts using phony miracles and such. It is easy to grow cynical. Yet, we are wise to pay attention to the miraculous signs around us wherever they occur. Or, at least, to stay open to the possibilities of these events. They are powerful clues to the working of our Father. It is just as wrong to write off any possibility of such miracles as it is to fabricate phony ones. In a world governed by the One who spoke it all into existence miraculously, we are wise to be open to the possibility that He is able to work outside the “laws of nature” and that He might just do such in order to get the attention of those He loves. If we believe, we just might see the glory of God.
Ventanas 