Acts 7:59-60

Acts 7:59-60

[59] And  they stoned  Stephen,  calling upon  God, and  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  spirit.  [60] And  he kneeled down,  and cried  with a loud  voice,  Lord,  lay  not  sin  to their  charge. And  when he had said  he fell asleep. 

What does Acts 7:59-60 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Stephen called upon the Lord (Gr. epikaloumenon), as Peter had exhorted his hearers to do for deliverance ( Acts 2:21). Stephen died as Jesus did, with prayers for his executioners being his last words (cf. Luke 23:34; Luke 23:46; cf. 2 Chronicles 24:22; Luke 6:27-28). However, Stephen prayed to Jesus whereas Jesus prayed to His Father. Luke probably wanted his readers to connect the two executions, but they were not exactly the same. Some commentators have argued that Luke presented Stephen"s execution as a reenactment of Jesus" execution. [1]
"Between Stephen and Jesus there was communion of nature, there was communion of testimony, there was communion of suffering, and finally there was communion of triumph." [2]
Stephen"s body, not his soul, fell asleep to await resurrection (cf. Acts 13:36; John 11:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; et al.).
"For Stephen the whole dreadful turmoil finished in a strange peace. He fell asleep. To Stephen there came the peace which comes to the man who has done the right thing even if the right thing kills him." [3]
"As Paul is to become Luke"s hero, in that he more than any other single man was instrumental in spreading the Gospel throughout the Gentile world, so Stephen here receives honourable recognition as the man who first saw the wider implications of the Church"s faith and laid the foundations on which the mission to the Gentiles was built." [4]