Stephen was one of the seven men chosen by the apostles to oversee the daily distribution to widows. Acts describes him as full of grace and power, and his preaching drew opposition. Brought before the Sanhedrin, he answered with a sweeping account of Israel's history and a charge that his hearers had resisted the Holy Spirit.
He was dragged outside the city and stoned. As he died he prayed, in echo of Christ on the cross, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' Among the witnesses, holding the cloaks of the executioners, was a young Pharisee named Saul.
Stephen is honored as the first Christian martyr — the protomartyr. His death scattered the Jerusalem church and, with it, the gospel; and the man who approved his killing would, within months, become its greatest missionary.