6:10
Jesus had told His disciples that when they were called up by various authorities that the Spirit would give them wisdom (Luke 12:12, 21:15), and we see here an example of that being fulfilled. Many times when the Pharisees or scribes disputed with Jesus we see that He gave amazing answers. Sometimes the answers refuted the arguments, at other times they got right to the heart of the matter, ie the duplicity within the souls of men. The ministry we see in Acts is a Spirit-filled ministry, and we need to live Spirit led lives. When we do that we are not living in our own strength alone, but are working together with God.
6:11
Having failed to win an argument against Stephen, the Jews instigated men to speak against him, making false accusations. Again we see an almost exact mirror of what happened in the life of Jesus. Indeed, one of the themes in Acts is that it is a continuation of the ministry of Jesus (Acts 1:1,2). They accused Stephen of blasphemy against God and Moses. Jesus too was accused of blasphemy. We also see the high regard Moses was held in. Now Moses is a key figure, and appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, but the Jews gave a wrong prominence to him, not seeing that Moses himself was pointing the way forward to Jesus (Acts 3:22).
6:12
Finding that they could not answer Stephen with arguments they resorted to violence, stirring up the people, elders and scribes. They would raise their anger by saying Stephen was attacking Moses. Playing on people’s fears and hatreds is a tactic used by groups throughout history. We should not expect opponents of the gospel to use “proper” tactics. Our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. So Stephen was hauled before the council.
6:13-15
As they had done with Jesus, they got a series of false witnesses. “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place”. Again in parallel to Jesus, Stephen was accubsed of being against the temple. Indeed, they brought up the charge that Jesus had said He would destroy the temple (when in face He has said “destroy this temple”, referring to His own body). One might have expected Stephen to react with anger, but instead his face “was like the face of an angel”.
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