Sankt Stefan/Saint Stephen illustration

I was recently asked if I wanted to illustrate a text from the Bible. A text that is being read the second Christmas Day in the priest's sermon. The text is about the Saint Stephen ....  and the short version of the story is that, in the year 35 ac. the new movement of Jesus-followers in Jerusalem had an accomplished preacher in Stephen. He was so good at preaching, that he had to be killed by those who were againt Christianity. Therefore, he is regarded as Christianity's first martyr.

In the time after Jesus' death and resurrection Saint Stephen went around and preached the gospel in the streets of Jerusalem. Stefan was a very strong rhetoric and his opponents found it difficult to win on pure reasoning and even staged a trial and accused him of blasphemy, but they couldn't beat him by pure arguments and therefore he was shut up in a different way = stoned to death.

One of the spectators was the young Saul. Watching the stooning made him convert to Christianity and he later became known as the evangelist Paul.

The moral is that you can kill the messenger killed but not the message.

You can read more about the saint here