Hearing More Than Was Said: Listening Carefully to Acts 7
One of the great joys of preaching through a book like Acts is discovering how much more is happening in the text than can ever be covered in a single Sunday message.
After this past Sunday’s sermon from Acts 7, a member of our church reached out with a thoughtful question... one that highlights not only the richness of Scripture, but also the kind of careful, reverent engagement we hope to cultivate as a congregation.
The question was essentially this: when Stephen opens with “Hear me,” is Luke inviting us to hear an echo of the Shema, which is the foundational confession of Israel found in Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins, “Hear, O Israel”… and if so, what does that tell us about how Stephen is calling Israel’s leaders to listen?
It’s a perceptive question, and one worth slowing down to consider.
“Hearing” as Covenant Language
In Scripture, hearing is never merely about sound reaching the ears. To “hear” is to receive, to submit, to respond in obedience. That’s why the Shema does not begin with explanation, but with a summons: “Hear, O Israel.”
When Stephen says, “Hear me,” he is doing more than asking for attention. Standing before the Sanhedrin (Israel’s highest religious council) he is speaking within Israel’s own covenantal vocabulary. He is calling leaders who know the Law to listen again, carefully and humbly, from within their own story.
In Scripture, hearing is never passive… it is always a summons to respond.
It’s important to be clear here: Stephen is likely not making a formal or technical appeal to the Shema in the way later rabbinic writings might. Luke doesn’t signal that kind of explicit citation. But Luke does want us to feel the weight of the moment.
Stephen is effectively calling Israel’s leaders to hear God again (on God’s terms) through the story God Himself has been telling.
That distinction matters. It keeps us from overreading the text while still honoring the theological resonance Luke invites us to notice.
A Trinitarian Shape Beneath the Story
The question also noted something else striking about Acts 7: its Trinitarian shape.
Stephen never pauses to define the Trinity. There are no creeds or technical formulations... and yet the pattern is unmistakable:
This isn’t abstract theology. It’s lived, biblical, experiential Trinitarian faith... emerging naturally from the Scriptures themselves.
From Emmaus to Stephen
That brings us to an important connection. In Luke 24, the risen Jesus walks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and shows them how, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,” the Scriptures point to Him.
That pattern doesn’t stay on the road to Emmaus. It becomes apostolic preaching. It becomes Christian apologetic. It becomes the church’s way of reading Scripture.
Stephen’s authority does not come from institutional position or personal boldness. It comes from Scripture rightly understood in light of Christ, shaped by Jesus’ own teaching. Acts 7 is not merely a defense of the faith, it is a demonstration of how the early church learned to read the Bible as one unified, Christ-centered story.
An Invitation to Listen More Carefully
One of the encouraging things about this exchange is what it reveals about how Scripture works on us over time. There is always more to see... always more to ask... always more to delight in.
That doesn’t mean Sunday preaching is insufficient. It means God’s Word is inexhaustible.
Our hope as leaders is not simply that you would hear sermons, but that you would grow increasingly confident to hear God’s Word for yourself… asking good questions, making careful observations, and engaging Scripture deeply within the life of the church.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Kurt
(BTW: If a question or observation arises as you engage Scripture, we’d love to hear from you. Acts was written not only to inform the church, but to form us, and that formation often happens best in conversation.)
After this past Sunday’s sermon from Acts 7, a member of our church reached out with a thoughtful question... one that highlights not only the richness of Scripture, but also the kind of careful, reverent engagement we hope to cultivate as a congregation.
The question was essentially this: when Stephen opens with “Hear me,” is Luke inviting us to hear an echo of the Shema, which is the foundational confession of Israel found in Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins, “Hear, O Israel”… and if so, what does that tell us about how Stephen is calling Israel’s leaders to listen?
It’s a perceptive question, and one worth slowing down to consider.
“Hearing” as Covenant Language
In Scripture, hearing is never merely about sound reaching the ears. To “hear” is to receive, to submit, to respond in obedience. That’s why the Shema does not begin with explanation, but with a summons: “Hear, O Israel.”
When Stephen says, “Hear me,” he is doing more than asking for attention. Standing before the Sanhedrin (Israel’s highest religious council) he is speaking within Israel’s own covenantal vocabulary. He is calling leaders who know the Law to listen again, carefully and humbly, from within their own story.
In Scripture, hearing is never passive… it is always a summons to respond.
It’s important to be clear here: Stephen is likely not making a formal or technical appeal to the Shema in the way later rabbinic writings might. Luke doesn’t signal that kind of explicit citation. But Luke does want us to feel the weight of the moment.
Stephen is effectively calling Israel’s leaders to hear God again (on God’s terms) through the story God Himself has been telling.
That distinction matters. It keeps us from overreading the text while still honoring the theological resonance Luke invites us to notice.
A Trinitarian Shape Beneath the Story
The question also noted something else striking about Acts 7: its Trinitarian shape.
Stephen never pauses to define the Trinity. There are no creeds or technical formulations... and yet the pattern is unmistakable:
- God the Father initiates, promises, sends, and reveals Himself throughout redemptive history.
- God the Son is the Righteous One to whom the entire story has been pointing—the rejected Deliverer now revealed.
- God the Holy Spirit is actively present and persistently resisted, which becomes the central charge of Stephen’s indictment.
This isn’t abstract theology. It’s lived, biblical, experiential Trinitarian faith... emerging naturally from the Scriptures themselves.
From Emmaus to Stephen
That brings us to an important connection. In Luke 24, the risen Jesus walks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and shows them how, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,” the Scriptures point to Him.
That pattern doesn’t stay on the road to Emmaus. It becomes apostolic preaching. It becomes Christian apologetic. It becomes the church’s way of reading Scripture.
Stephen’s authority does not come from institutional position or personal boldness. It comes from Scripture rightly understood in light of Christ, shaped by Jesus’ own teaching. Acts 7 is not merely a defense of the faith, it is a demonstration of how the early church learned to read the Bible as one unified, Christ-centered story.
An Invitation to Listen More Carefully
One of the encouraging things about this exchange is what it reveals about how Scripture works on us over time. There is always more to see... always more to ask... always more to delight in.
That doesn’t mean Sunday preaching is insufficient. It means God’s Word is inexhaustible.
Our hope as leaders is not simply that you would hear sermons, but that you would grow increasingly confident to hear God’s Word for yourself… asking good questions, making careful observations, and engaging Scripture deeply within the life of the church.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Kurt
(BTW: If a question or observation arises as you engage Scripture, we’d love to hear from you. Acts was written not only to inform the church, but to form us, and that formation often happens best in conversation.)
Posted in UNSTOPPABLE: Acts Series
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