Acts 6:8-15
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
So far, the rumor that is being spread is that Stephen is blaspheming against Moses and God. From that rumor a false accusation is made about him to the Sanhedrin, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law..."
What we need to understand is that this is a serious accusation against a Jew. There was absolutely nothing more precious to the Jews than their temple and their law. To them, the Temple was the Holy Place in which the presence of God lived, and the law was THE revelation of God's mind and will, therefore to speak against either was to speak against God himself, and deserved nothing less than death...Let us remember it is this same accusation that put our Savior on the Cross.
As a jury, let us hear the evidence of the blasphemous message of Stephen, "...this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us..." What we must understand is that Peter was NOT making this up, he was not trying to cause a riot, rather Stephen was simply echoing the words of Jesus. Jesus did say, that he would destroy the temple. Jesus did say that he would fulfill the law. Jesus taught that the both the temple and the law would be superseded, NOT meaning that they were never a valid gift and tool from God, but rather that they would find their fulfillment in him - if they (the pharisees) had really understood this, this would have rather magnified their importance rather than denigrate it.
Back to Stephen. Now that we see that Stephen was doing no more or less than echoing Christ, we better understand what was happening, and even better understand their hatred for this Stephen. So at this point they were "gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel." I think this section is overlooked a lot. This (face of an angel) probably maddened the pharisees and the council even more. Remember EVERYTHING went back to the Father and the Law. What happened to Moses when he came down from the mountain with the Law, as a proof that he was with God hearing from God about the law? His face was shining as well! Now, we have Stephen's face shining not so different from Moses, but Stephen was saying that Jesus was this law. So, what is the issue here, it is not so much that the Council so prized the Law that they couldn't stand blasphemy, rather it was they loved the power they gained from the Law that they were willing to murder anyone to shut them up whose truth may take away their power. God's signs were with Stephen - in verse 8, we see that God had approved Stephen's ministry with grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. In verse 10, we see that a supernatural anointing was on him to the point that, they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then in verse 13, we see the shining face that surely brought Moses' to memory. Yet the pharisees neglected the evidence that was given them, for the sake of their power, their name's sake, and tradition.
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