It is not a matter of irony that the Church remembers the martyrdom of St. Stephen on the day after Christmas. While we are in the midst of the Christmas season, it might seem strange to us that we would remember such a cruel death, but there are deep and powerful reasons to do so. The birth of Jesus as an innocent child cannot be separated from his death on the cross.
We are tempted sometimes to sentimentalize this great mystery of Christ’s birth. The Church, in its wisdom, puts before us the account of this martyrdom to help us to see the direct connection between this birth and the death of Jesus on the cross. And because of this, we must avoid the temptation of merely standing in adoration before the manger, without seeing its connection to Jesus’ death on the cross. Bethlehem points to Calvary.
Placing this event from the Acts of the Apostles concerning Stephen’s martyrdom, on the day after Christmas, makes that connection palpable and real. Stephen gives us an example of the potential cost of discipleship to Jesus Christ. Stephen remembered the word of God so deeply, and preached it so clearly, and he lived his faith so openly, and this is why he was brought outside of the city walls to his martyrdom. His stoning to death shows us that being a follower of Jesus causes ripples in the fragile and flawed fabric of the world. It showed us how the world often responds to those who openly and courageously live the life that Jesus has called us to live.
Stephen’s death challenges us today. Can we say right now that we know and love Jesus to the depth and degree that Stephen modeled for us here? The challenges of living the Christ life today may be even harder than in the past. In our increasingly secular and atheist age, martyrdom for the faith may take many forms, from something as simple as open ridicule and mockery to outright hatred and threats of physical harm.
Jesus tells his disciples, “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans” (Mt. 10: 17-18). This is, after all, the meaning of the word ‘martyr’. The Greek word, ‘martyr,’ translates to the word, ‘witness,’ in English. Do we have the courage to be ‘witnesses’ for our faith? Are we humble enough, and willing enough, to endure whatever the world throws at us?
Jesus’ birth is just the beginning of the story. To follow Christ, that is, to live and to speak, and to act as he did, is as challenging to our present culture as it was to the people of Jesus’ time. As Christians, we must be willing and able to follow Jesus even to the Cross. To know, to love, and to serve God and our neighbor in this world is no small thing. It has consequences. If we have faith, if we desire to put the words of our faith into action, we can do so, because God responds with an outpouring of his grace. “We may say with confidence: ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’ Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever’” (Heb. 13: 7-8).
And there it is. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the One who in the beginning was the Word, who was with God and who was God, and the Word through whom all things came to be; He is the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; He is the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and who died on the Cross; He is the One who rose again from the dead, He is the One who remains with us in His Holy Spirit now, and He is the One who will come again to judge the living and the dead and whose kingdom will have no end.
Are we ready to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in the great and the small environments of our own time and places in the world today? We may be taken before governors, the courts, even our friends and families, because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Do we believe Jesus when he says to his disciples, “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of our Father speaking through you” (Mt. 10: 19-20).
This is the faith that Stephen modeled to us. It is the faith that Peter and Paul and all of the Apostles ‘witnessed’ for us, and countless other ‘witnesses’ who have gone before us. Stephen’s faith was so deep that he imitated Jesus’ own words from the cross, saying to those who were stoning him, “Lord, do not hold his sin against them” Acts 7: 60).
Jesus came into the world to save us from sin and death once and for all. In coming into the world as a fragile infant, he took on our humanity; in doing so, he did not diminish his divinity but raised our humanity. As the Father’s Son, he made each of us children of God and heirs to the inheritance of the Father. Are we willing to be witnesses to this great call?
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