The Acts 6:8-7:8, 47-60, especially vs. 55: "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." In his early Church history, The Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke characterizes his Gospel as an account "of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up" (Acts 1:1,2). However, Acts is more than a simple historical or narrative sequel to St. Luke's Gospel, for, in itself, it is the account of all that the Lord Jesus 'continued' to do and teach through His Body, the Church, after He was taken up bodily into Heaven (Lk. 24:51 and Acts 1:9).
In the portrayal of Christ's Martyr Stephen - as one "full of grace and power" [RSV, vs. 6:8] as one who speaks with "wisdom and the Spirit" (vs. 6:10) - the Martyr directs our gaze into the heavens to behold "the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (vs. 7:55). Of course, it is the Lord Who is being revealed through the person of His Holy Martyr Stephen. Just as true icons always disclose the connection between their particular subjects and the Divine Incarnation, so likewise St. Luke's account of Christ's first Martyr, Stephen, manifests the Lord incarnate in His Church. Therefore, let the reader perceive, in the account of St. Stephen's witness, a faithful revelation of the Lord of grace and power, of wisdom and the Spirit, and of eternal Glory at the right hand of the Father. St. Stephen is the Proto-martyr not only in the sense of being the first martyr for the Lord, but also as the proto-type of Christ's martyrs, for all Christ's true martyrs reveal the Lord Jesus acting and teaching through His Body, the Church.
The Lord Jesus not only is "full of grace and truth" in Himself (Jn. 1:14), but He is the limitless source of "grace and truth"(Jn.1:17), for He continues to commit grace and truth to the Faithful by the power of His Holy Spirit. That Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:55) simply explains how it was that he came to be "full of grace and power" (vs. 6:8).
The same fullness of Christ was evident in St. Paul. In fact, the Lord told him directly, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9), which caused him to relish his infirmities, that "the power of Christ" might rest upon him (2 Cor. 12:9). Infirm as we are, let us rejoice, for in Christ, His grace and power may truly fill us also.
Multitudes who encountered the Lord before "He was taken up" (Acts 1:2) were astonished at His wisdom and asked, "Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him?" (Mk. 6:2). St. Luke states that the Holy Spirit was "upon Him" and "filled Him" (Lk. 3:22; 4:1). Beloved, the same Blessed Spirit of God rests upon His Body filling us, His Holy Ones, " to be witnesses to [Him]...to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Realize that St. Stephen was a witness to the Lord Jesus before he shed his blood for Him. The meaning of the Greek, "martus," is "witness" and provides us with our word "martyr," which now, after centuries of faithful witnessing even to death, suggests a witness who dies for the Faith. Let us be faithful witnesses to Christ, to reveal His wisdom and to share in His Cross.
The Lord, the pre-eternal Word, took care to reveal His Divine glory following His Incarnation: to the Theotokos before His birth (Lk. 1:32), while an infant to Simeon (Lk. 2:30-32), to the Forerunner at His Baptism (Mt. 3:16-17), to St. Andrew and St. John the Evangelist (Jn. 1:36), to chosen witnesses on Mt. Tabor (Mk. 9:1-7), and supremely following His Resurrection to a host of His chosen witnesses (1 Cor. 15:5-8). He also opened the heavens to His first martyr Stephen (Acts 7:55-56) as He often has to others of His martyrs. Let us receive light from Christ the Light by Whose illumination His martyrs have revealed His eternal glory.
O Holy Martyrs of Christ, by your prayers may we also faithfully witness to His grace.