Acts 6:1-15

6:1-2 | A conservative estimate puts the total number of the disciples in Jerusalem between 20,000 and 25,000 at this time. As new believers were added, the needs of people soon overwhelmed the existing infrastructure. Growth led to grievances.

6:1 | One complaint was that, while the Hebrew widows were cared for, the Hellenistic (Greek) widows were neglected. The apostle’s plan - advising the people to select seven godly men to handle administrative affairs - would permanently impact the church through the coming centuries (1 Tim. 3:8-13).

6:3-6 | The training and experience of these deacons led to the discovery of two great preachers: Stephen was an eloquent defender of Jesus and Philip became the church’s first evangelist.

6:4 | The apostles gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word represents a powerful statement of the values of the early church’s leaders. The bibilical model is that the people in the church do the work of the church as they are gifted (1 Cor. 12) so that the pastor might be able to focus on doing the work for which he has been gifted (Eph. 4:11-12).

6:5 | Judging by the names of the men chosen, they were all Greeks or Grecian Jews. Because the Greeks were the ones who had felt slighted, the majority in the church (the Hebrews) chose seven men from the Greek minority to correct the problem, evidencing great humility and unity.

6:7 | These Levite priests, who officiated daily in the temple worship, were not the high priest and his ruling cohorts who joined with the Sadducees in persecuting the apostles. When the growth of the church is mentioned , it is always in terms of the spread of the word of God. The church’s job is not only to create converts but to make disciples who teach other and share their faith,. God honors His Word, and it produces His result (Isa. 55:11; Heb. 4:12).

6:9 | During the Babylonian captivity, when Jews were cut off from worship at the temple, they began meeting in groups of 10 or more to read the Scriptures and worship. These meetings developed into synagogues.

6:11-14 |The accusations brought against Stephen - that he had insulted both Moses and God - had also been brought against Jesus (Matt. 26:59-60). Such claims, although not true, inflamed the passions of the (non-Christians) Jewish people.

6:15 | A description of what Stephen’s face might have looked like is found in Exodus 34, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai. Those who are filled with the Spirit of God usually reflect something of that reality in their faces.