8:1
“And Saul approved of his execution”. Luke does not do anything to seek to minimise the awfulness and evil of what Paul (Saul) did before his conversion. Indeed, neither does Paul himself in later speeches nor in his letters. The gospel is for all. All have sinned, and all can be saved through faith in Christ. The martyrdom of Stephen led to a much more general persecution of the church. So many of the Christians were scattered throughout Jerusalem and Samaria. This was fulfilling the commission of Acts 1:8 that they must be witnesses in all of Judea and Samaria, the ends of the earth will come next. So we see here another example of what was intended for evil (ie killing Stephen, and persecuting the church) was used by God for good. It is also a fulfilment of Romans 8:28,29, of God working through all things for the good of those who love Him, and His purpose being that Jesus might be the firstborn of many. It isn’t clear why the apostles all stayed in Jerusalem. Maybe this was a tactical move to ensure the survival of the church. We should also note that this would put them in the greatest danger.
8:2,3
If someone was killed as a criminal then they were usually denied a “decent burial”. Verse 2 shows that some devout men ensured that Stephen received a proper burial, a mark of respect for him. This parallels Joseph of Arimathea giving his tomb to Jesus. We then read that Saul was on the rampage, violently persecuting the church. “He dragged of men and women and committed them to prison.” The explicit mention of “men and women” is significant here, for it indicates the severity of the persecution. In a mild persecution it would just be the men who were taken, the women being generally left alone, so the inclusion of women as well means the persecution was really serious. This is one reason why I think it is better not to use “gender neutral” language in Bible translations, for then things like this can be missed.
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