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Easter Season · Fifth Sunday of Easter · Year A

Acts 7:55-60

The Stoning of Stephen

May 3, 2026

The Stoning of Saint Stephen, Rembrandt van Rijn
The Stoning of Saint Stephen, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1625Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon / Wikimedia Commons
Rembrandt's earliest known painting, made at nineteen. He put his own face in the crowd behind the raised stone.Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Do not hold this sin against them.Rembrandt van RijnRembrandt (1606-1669) painted scripture as if it had happened in a room he had been in, and returned to the same stories across forty years, changing his mind about them in public.Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon / Wikimedia CommonsA Benedictine abbey turned museum at the Revolution, holding the largest art collection in France outside Paris.Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon / Wikimedia Commons
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 14:1-14Jn 14:1-14
Epistle1 Pet. 2:2-101 Pt 2:2-10
Old TestamentActs 7:55-60
PsalterPs. 31:1-5, 15-16Ps 31:1-5, 15-16

Overview & Insights

"Lord, do not hold this sin against them... Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Acts 7:60, 59)

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen sees the heavens opened and Jesus standing at God's right hand, a vision that so enrages the council that they drag him out and stone him. As he dies he echoes Jesus' own words from the cross, committing his spirit to the Lord and forgiving his killers.

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Take it further: Acts 7:55-60

Commentary

Commentary on Acts 7:55-60 Working Preacher

Reads Stephen's vision and death as the story's dramatic hinge between Jesus and the persecuted church.

Acts 7:55-60 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary tracing how Stephen's dying words mirror Jesus' words on the cross.

Acts 7 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical walkthrough of Stephen's speech and martyrdom.

Acts 7 Commentary Precept Austin

A study-Bible style compilation of classic commentators on the whole chapter.

Acts 7:55 Commentaries BibleHub

One-page aggregation of public-domain commentaries on Stephen's vision of the open heavens.

Background & Word Study

Acts 7:55 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek text with parsing for Stephen seeing the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing.

Overview: Acts 1-12 BibleProject

Animated overview of the first half of Acts, framing Stephen's death within the church's early expansion.

The Church Fathers

Catena on Acts 7 Catena

Patristic comments assembled verse by verse on Stephen's speech, vision, and death.

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