The stoning of Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, reminds us that the Cross is not simply the precursor of the Resurrection. The Cross is, and becomes in every generation, the revelation of Christ’s risen life. Stephen glimpsed this at the very moment of his death. “Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. 'I can see heaven thrown open and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.'”
We instinctively shrink from pain and suffering. We cannot comprehend their meaning, and yet, when surrendered to the Cross of Christ, they become Stephen’s vision of heaven’s door thrown open. Our darkness becomes Christ’s light, our struggling hope the revelation of his Spirit.
