Acts 7:60

My Notes

What Does Acts 7:60 Mean?

Stephen's last act isn't a prayer for himself. It's a prayer for his killers. And the prayer mirrors Christ's so precisely that the echo reverberates through every century since.

"He kneeled down" — Stephen changes posture in the middle of being stoned. He goes to his knees. Not because the stones drove him down — though they might have. Because he's praying. The kneeling is deliberate. In the middle of a lynching, Stephen assumes the posture of intercession. The man being murdered becomes the man praying for the murderers.

"And cried with a loud voice" — the prayer is shouted. Not whispered. Not muttered under his breath. Loud. Loud enough for the men throwing the stones to hear it. Loud enough that Saul — standing nearby, holding the coats of the executioners — could hear every word. The volume is purposeful. This prayer is for an audience.

"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" — the prayer is for forgiveness. Not for justice. Not for vengeance. Not for vindication. For the cancellation of the debt his murderers are accumulating with every stone. Don't count this against them. Don't hold them responsible for what they're doing to me. The man being killed is asking God to forgive the men doing the killing.

Jesus said the same thing from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, produces the same prayer under the same circumstances. The disciple has become like the teacher. The student has absorbed the master's curriculum so completely that his dying words are the master's dying words.

"And when he had said this, he fell asleep" — the final phrase is the gentlest description of death in the New Testament. He fell asleep. Not "he died." Not "he was killed." He fell asleep. The brutality of the stoning is swallowed by the tenderness of the departure. The stones did their worst. The sleep was gentle. Stephen's exit was rest.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Could you pray for the person who's hurting you — not in the abstract, but while they're actively doing the damage?
• 2.How might Stephen's prayer have affected Saul — the future Paul — who was standing there listening?
• 3.What does the phrase 'he fell asleep' communicate about death for someone whose spirit has already been received by Jesus?
• 4.How do you build the kind of faith that produces forgiveness for your enemies as your final act? What does that require?

Devotional

Stephen's last prayer wasn't for himself. He'd already prayed for himself — "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." That was settled. His soul was committed. So he used his last breath on someone else. The people killing him. The men whose hands were full of stones aimed at his body. Those people. He prayed for them.

Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. That's the most Christlike sentence any human has ever spoken outside of Golgotha. It's the proof that following Jesus doesn't just change your theology. It changes what comes out of your mouth when you're dying. The ultimate test of discipleship isn't what you say in church. It's what you say to the people destroying you.

Saul heard this prayer. The future apostle Paul was standing there, approving the execution, listening to a dying man ask God to forgive his killers. We can't know exactly what that prayer did inside Saul's hardened heart. But we know that within a few years, the man who held the coats was himself on his knees before the Lord Jesus. Stephen's prayer may have been the first crack in Saul's resistance. The first stone that hit Saul wasn't on the Damascus Road. It might have been the prayer of a dying man who loved his enemies enough to pray for them with his last breath.

"He fell asleep." After the stones. After the shouted prayer. After the kneeling in the dirt while a mob tried to destroy him. He fell asleep. Like a child at the end of a long day. Like someone resting in the arms of the One who received his spirit. The violence was done to his body. But his departure was peace. Sleep. Rest. Whatever the stones did to the outside, the inside was already home.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture