General Comments on Acts 6-9 These next few chapters are an episodic chronicle of Who's Who in the ancient Christian Church. You have Stephen (ch. 6-7), Philip (ch. 8) and Saul (ch. 9). The acts recounted are all pivotal events in the ancient Church, hence their necessity in being documented. Comments on Acts 6 v1-6 Growth in the Church results in the apostles not being able to handle all of the people's needs, in this case the material needs of the widows. The result is seven of the most devout disciples available are called specifically to minister to all those with additional needs. The matter over the widows is one that would raise concern because the Law emphasizes so strongly that widows and orphans, those not connected to the traditional support structures, need to be taken care of, cf. Exod. 22:22, Deut. 10:18, Deut. 14:29, Deut. 24:19. v7 Christianity spreads through Jerusalem considerably, so much so that a considerable number of the Levitical priests adopt the faith. This little detail underscores the hostility the apostles and disciples faced, which ultimately Stephen becomes a victim of. The Jews in power thought they had quashed Jesus' movement, but instead it was blowing up in their face with even the Levitical priests joining. The result is resorting to heavy- handed tactics, just like they used with Jesus. v8-15 One of the seven disciples, named Stephen, was particularly devout, and ended up getting himself into trouble with a prominent synagogue because of his preaching. His opponents conspire against him, stir up trouble, and have him taken in to the council where false accusations are hurled at him. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.