John Chrysostom, On Holy Stephen the First Martyr

hanging on a tree? Did not Jacob prefigure the burial in the tomb: Lying down he slept as a lion? Did not David proclaim beforehand the things of the resurrection: Arise, O God, judge the earth? Did not the same one foretell the things of the ascension: God has gone up with a shout? Either show, therefore, the fulfillment of the prophecies in some other, or worship the crucified one as God.

For you, O foolish ones, not knowing the prophecy of Moses, thought you were crucifying a mere man; but the one from among you, or rather against you, the chosen instrument, Paul cries out: For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Refuting you concerning him, the chief of the apostles said: But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life. Isaiah, knowing this cry of yours from afar, said: Woe to those who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter! Thus then, as Stephen was reasoning, They were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. And it is well said, "to resist." For since he said above, "Some from the synagogue arose," here he says, "They were not able to resist." Therefore they pushed their tongue into silence, all closed their own lips, they checked the arrows of their words, they restrained the bows of their speeches, they hid the spear of wickedness under their tongue. They were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. O what new things! How well the renowned Luke writes! how he brings the promises of Christ to fulfillment! For Christ said, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to resist." Well therefore he says: They were not able to resist the wisdom, and the Spirit, by which he spoke. What wisdom? Christ speaking in him. And that Christ is wisdom, let Paul come saying: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. But that he speaks in those who give thanks, writing elsewhere he said: If you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. And they were not able to resist the wisdom, that 59.504 is, Christ. For who shall resist him, and endure? And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. What Spirit? The Paraclete, concerning whom he said in the first things: But Stephen, full of faith and power; and again, And being full of the Holy Spirit, looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God. Then therefore they suborned men, saying, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. False witness succeeded envy. They suborned men. For money they bought the lie, saying, Come, O honored men, serve our interests with yours; in our designs let your tongue serve; let your mouth minister to our counsels. For a certain avenger of the Galilean has risen up, a champion for him has been raised up and an adversary. He honors a God lying in a tomb; he preaches a Creator enclosed in a sepulcher. He imagines the one placed in a monument to be in the heavens; he says that the one mocked by soldiers will come with the army of heaven; he proclaims as judge of creation the one who was not even able to avenge himself. Joseph laid his body in a monument, and this man imagines him to be at the right hand of God. His disciples denied him as an imposter, and this man says that every tongue will confess to him; he was not able to come down from the cross, and this man proclaims his second coming from the heavens; the evildoers blasphemed him as unable to save either himself or them; and this man cries out most clearly that he is the Savior of the world. Have you ever seen such audacity? Have you ever at all heard words of such madness and blasphemy? Serve the pretense, therefore, and you will receive a common glory from those present. Then the descendants of the slanderers of Naboth used these words: We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.

κρεμαμένην ἐπὶ ξύλου; οὐ τὴν ταφὴν τὴν ἐν μνημείῳ ὁ Ἰακὼβ προέγραψεν· Ἀναπεσὼν ἐκοιμήθη ὡς λέων; οὐ τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως προανεβόησεν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· Ἀνάστα, ὁ Θεὸς, κρῖνον τὴν γῆν; οὐ τὰ τῆς ἀναλήψεως ὁ αὐτὸς προεῖπεν· Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ; Ἢ δείξατε τοίνυν ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν προφητειῶν τὴν ἔκβασιν, ἢ ὡς. Θεῷ τῷ ἐσταυρωμένῳ προσκυνεῖτε.

Ὑμεῖς γὰρ, ὦ ἀνόητοι, μὴ γινώσκοντες τὴν προφητείαν Μωϋσέως, ἐνομίζετε ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον σταυροῦν· ἀλλ' ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν, καθ' ὑμῶν δὲ μᾶλλον, τὸ σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς, Παῦλος κράζει· Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν. Περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐλέγχων ὑμᾶς ὁ κορυφαῖος τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔλεγεν· Ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον ἡρνήσασθε, καὶ ᾐτήσασθε ἄνδρα φονέα χαρισθῆναι ὑμῖν, τὸν δὲ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀπεκτείνατε. Ταύτην ὑμῶν τὴν φωνὴν πόῤῥωθεν εἰδὼς Ἡσαΐας ἔλεγεν· Οὐαὶ τοῖς λέγουσι τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ, καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν! Οὕτω τοίνυν διαλεγομένου τοῦ Στεφάνου, Οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἐλάλει. Καὶ καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ, Ἀντιστῆναι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀνωτέρω εἶπεν, Ἀνέστησάν τινες τῶν ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς, ὧδε λέγει, Οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι. Εἰς σιωπὴν οὖν ὠθοῦντο τὴν γλῶσσαν, συνέκλειον ἅπαντες τὰ οἰκεῖα χείλη, ἀνέστελλον τῶν λόγων τὰ βέλη, ἀπεκράτησαν τῶν ῥημάτων τὰ τόξα, ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἔκρυψαν τῆς κακίας τὸ δόρυ. Οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἐλάλει. Ὢ τῶν καινῶν πραγμάτων! πῶς καλῶς συγγράφεται ὁ ἀοίδιμος Λουκᾶς; πῶς τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς πέρας ἕλκει; Εἶπε γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτι ∆ώσω ὑμῖν στόμα καὶ σοφίαν, ᾗ οὐ δυνήσονται ἀντιστῆναι πάντες οἱ ἀντικείμενοι ὑμῖν. Καλῶς οὖν λέγει· Οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ, καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἐλάλει. Ποίᾳ σοφίᾳ; Τῷ Χριστῷ τῷ ἐν αὐτῷ φθεγγομένῳ. Καὶ ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς σοφία, ἡκέτω Παῦλος λέγων· Χριστὸς Θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία. Ὅτι δὲ λαλεῖ ἐν τοῖς εὐχαριστοῦσι, γράφων ἐν ἄλλοις ἔλεγεν· Εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ, ὃς εἰς ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἀσθενεῖ, ἀλλὰ δυνατεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. Καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ, του 59.504 τέστι, τῷ Χριστῷ. Τίς γὰρ ἀντιστήσεται αὐτῷ, καὶ ὑπομενεῖ; Καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἐλάλει. Ποίῳ πνεύματι; Τῷ Παρακλήτῳ, περὶ οὗ ἐν πρώτοις ἔλεγε· Στέφανος δὲ πλήρης πίστεως καὶ δυνάμεως· καὶ αὖθις, Ὑπάρχων δὲ Πνεύματος ἁγίου πλήρης, ἀτενίσας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, εἶδε δόξαν Θεοῦ. Τότε οὖν ὑπέβαλον ἄνδρας λέγοντας, ὅτι Ἀκηκόαμεν αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος ῥήματα βλάσφημα εἰς Μωϋσῆν καὶ τὸν Θεόν. ∆ιεδέξατο ψευδομαρτυρία τὸν φθόνον. Ὑπέβαλον ἄνδρας. Ἀργυρίου ἠγόρασαν τὸ ψεῦδος, ∆εῦτε, λέγοντες, ὦ τίμιοι ἄνδρες, τοῖς ἡμετέροις τὰ ὑμέτερα διακονήσατε· ἐν τοῖς ἡμῶν σκέμμασιν ἡ ὑμῶν ὑπουργήσειε γλῶσσα· τοῖς ἡμετέροις βουλεύμασιν ὑπηρετήσειε τὸ ὑμέτερον στόμα. Ἔκδικος γάρ τις τοῦ Γαλιλαίου ἀνέστη, ὑπέρμαχος ἐκείνου ἠγέρθη καὶ ἀντίμαχος. Θεὸν ἐν τάφῳ κείμενον γεραίρει· ∆ημιουργὸν τὸν ἐν τύμβῳ συγκλεισθέντα κηρύττει. Τὸν ἐν μνημείῳ τεθέντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς φαντάζεται εἶναι· τὸν ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν ἐμπαιχθέντα, σὺν τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ φημίζει παραγενέσθαι· τὸν μήτε ἑαυτὸν ἐκδικῆσαι ἰσχύσαντα, κριτὴν ἐπαγγέλλεται τῆς κτίσεως. Ἰωσὴφ ἀπέθετο τὸ τούτου σῶμα ἐν μνημείῳ, καὶ οὗτος αὐτὸν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ φαντάζεται ὑπάρχειν. Οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτὸν ἠρνήσαντο, ὡς ἀπατεῶνα, καὶ οὗτος λέγει, ὅτι πᾶσα γλῶσσα αὐτῷ ἐξομολογήσεται· ἐκ τοῦ σταυροῦ οὐκ ἴσχυσε καταβῆναι, καὶ δευτέραν αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν οὗτος ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται· οἱ κακοῦργοι αὐτὸν ἐβλασφήμουν μὴ δυνάμενον μήτε ἑαυτὸν σῶσαι, μήτε ἐκείνους· καὶ οὗτος τρανότατα κράζει, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου. Εἴδετέ ποτε τοιοῦτον τόλμημα; ἠκούσατε δὲ ὅλως τοιαύτης ἀπονοίας καὶ βλασφημίας ῥήματα; ὑπουργήσατε τοίνυν τῇ σκήψει, καὶ ἐπίκοινον παρὰ τῶν νῦν κομίσεσθε κλέος. Εἶτα οἱ ἀπόγονοι τῶν ἐπὶ Ναβουθὲ συκοφαντῶν τούτοις ἐχρήσαντο λόγοις· Ἀκηκόαμεν λαλοῦντος αὐτοῦ ῥήματα βλάσφημα εἰς Μωϋσῆν καὶ τὸν Θεόν.