“Faithful Unto Death”

Sunday, November 09, 2014

Did Stephen feel pain when he was stoned?  It said he looked as if he had seen an angel and then he fell asleep.

Sincerely,
Pain Free?

Dear Pain Free,

There is nothing in the text that would lead us to believe that Stephen didn’t feel pain when they stoned him to death.  When Stephen was dragged off to that kangaroo court, it says that his face looked angelic (Acts 6:15).  It doesn’t say that he had seen an angel.  However, Stephen did see the glory of God and Jesus looking down at him from the heavens (Acts 7:55-56).  Certainly those things gave him a great deal of comfort and peace as the end came, but that doesn’t remove the pain of having your body bludgeoned to death by rocks.  Stephen was a great man of faith and he paid the ultimate price for that faith.

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