The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

68 involve Jesus at all. As Neil notes, however, "It has been well said that, although the name of Christ is never mentioned, Stephen is all the while 'preaching Jesus. "' 54 That the person of Jesus is behind much of Stephen's speech can be discerned from: (1) the emphasis upon him at both beginning and end, (2) certain direct clues within the speech, and (3) from the literary style of a long historical recital. Marshall describes the impact of the literary style: By choosing this style of presentation Stephen was able to show that the present conduct of the Jews was all of a piece with that of their ancestors and at the same time that God was still working in the same way as he had done in the past. This means that we may expect to find a deliberate use of typological language, and it is the case that some of the language used about Moses suggests a parallel between him and Jesus. Although , therefore, Jesus is mentioned only once in the speech (7 :52) . . . a Christian outlook pervades the speech as a whole. 55 Luke indicates the importance of Jesus in the speech by recording in the beginning that the charges against Stephen involve not just his view of the Law and Temple but also "this Nazarene Jesus " (6: 14). At the end of Stephen's speech Jesus is identified as "the Righteous .., One whose betrayers and murderers you have now become" (7:52). His reference to Jesus as the "Son of Man" (7:56) and prayer to Jesus (7:60) emphasize the place of Jesus in both the thinking of Stephen and in the debate. Finally , an example of a direct clue that Jesus is the unnamed subject of the speech may be found in Stephen' s reference to Moses' mes ianic prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 :15 that "'God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren'" (7: 37). ven in the references to Abraham Luke prepare the reader in a ubtle a for the me age of Je us . The story of Abraham in thi peech begin in Me opotamia and end with the promi e of the nation wor hipping God in the land . That promi had b i u I be n ·1, 11 Act , 11 . "He i demon tratin th t e r thin in I r I' p t hi t r and expenenc pomt d or ard to od' ulmin tin a t in hi pl n or th r d mption f th rld in endin th h i t, " Ibid . M h 11 , t , 1