And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60
How could Stephen be so peaceful — dying without fighting back, without lashing out; crying, ‘0, Lord, don’t hold this against these guys’? He looked into heaven and saw Jesus. You see, Revelation 5:6 tells us that when we see Him, we will see Him as a Lamb having been slain. Therefore, if I’m looking up to heaven and seeing the Lord, inevitably I will understand that the scars He still bears were caused by me. My sin, my rebellion, my carnality, my depravity caused Him to be slaughtered on Calvary. And as I look into heaven and see what my sin did, what my sin wrought, I have no other alternative but to say even to those who are gnashing their teeth and throwing stones at me. ‘Lord Jesus, forgive them. Don’t hold this against them.’ When I truly see Jesus, I have no other choice but to be amazed at His grace and to be at peace with others. It’s only when I lower my sight and begin to look at people horizontally that I want to say, ‘Who do you think you are to say that about me?’ It’s only when I take my eyes off Jesus that I become defensive and antagonistic, uptight and combative, abrasive, callous and critical. What about you? Are you tense? Nervous? Uptight? The solution is so simple: Don’t look down on people. Look up into heaven and see the Lord. See how He has forgiven you. See the grace He has shown to you. See His mercies extended in your direction. In 2 Kings, we read the account of a battle between Israel and Moab. Losing the battle, and realizing his number was up, the king of Moab in desperation took his eldest son and sacrificed him on the wall of his city. When the people of Israel saw the sacrifice of the king’s own son, they departed from him and returned to their own land (2 Kings 3:27). They lost the will to fight when they saw the sacrifice the king made. So too, when we see the sacrifice of our King’s Son, when we see clearly the price that was paid, we lose the will to fight. And, like Stephen, we’re at peace even when the enemy throws stones.
From today's daily devotional by Pastor Jon Courson