History

 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
Acts 7:2 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/act.7.2.ESV

When on trial for his life, instead of defending himself, Stephen gave his accusers a history lesson. I think he knew the outcome was a foregone conclusion, so he decided to establish that he was on the right side of history. Stephen and his like were the true spiritual children of their forefathers in the faith.

As Jesus Himself said to the religious leaders, 'you are of your father the devil', not Abraham as they claimed. The patriarchs, prophets and their spiritual descendants rejoice in the Messiah Jesus. The enemies of God hate Him.

Jesus also accused the Jewish religious leaders as being the ones who killed the prophets (and eventually had Him, Stephen and others killed). If they were of God, they wouldn't build fancy tombs as pilgrimage sites of the people they killed. The patriarchs and prophets looked forward to Jesus's day and rejoiced.

Maybe Stephen's accusers thought they were too big for the old 'Sunday School' stories. Maybe they thought they should just focus on laws. Yet in doing so they became legalistic and devoid of the love that the law commands.

'Father God, please help us to be on the right side of history. May we rejoice in Your Son, in whose name we pray, amen'

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