Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ; the Holy Apostle, First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen; Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theodore the Branded One (844).
A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Acts 6:8-7:5,47-60; Matthew 21:33-42.
Read Matthew 21:33-42
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
On this second day after the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, we celebrate St. Stephen the Protomartyr (“first martyr”) and Archdeacon. In Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles, we read how Stephen was chosen along with six other men to assist the apostles with their ministry, being ordained as deacons by the laying on of hands. “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts. 6:8), but he eventually began to dispute with members of the “Synagogue of the Freedmen” (Acts. 6:9). They set out false witnesses against him. In Chapter 7, we can read the speech Stephen gave in response to the accusations against him. He retold the history of the Hebrews beginning with God appearing to Abraham, and then eventually his speech progressed to criticizing those who took council against him: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it” (Acts 6:51-53).
In today’s gospel reading, we read a parable in which Jesus tells of a landowner who leased his vineyard to vinedressers. The landowner sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive its fruit when vintage-time drew near, but the vinedressers beat one of the servants, killed another one, and stoned a third. More servants were eventually sent, and they received the same treatment. Finally, the landowner sent his own son. The vinedressers cast his son out of the vineyard and killed him, knowing the son was the heir to the entire vineyard. When the owner of the vineyard eventually returns to his land, he will destroy those wicked vinedressers and lease his vineyard to new ones. The landowner in this parable represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God’s people. The vinedressers represent the leaders of the Jews who were entrusted to care for the people. The servants represent Old Testament prophets, and the son represents Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God. The new vinedressers represent the Gentiles.
Just as the corrupt Synagogue of the Freedmen induced men to malign Stephen, bring him to council, and ultimately stone him to death, corrupt leaders throughout the centuries killed the prophets who spoke God’s words to His people, as Jesus’ parable illustrates for us. Jesus foretold even His own death in this parable. Throughout the ages, there have always been people who do not want to hear the truth. As Jesus told Pilate: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (Jn. 18:37). As followers of Christ, we need to be “of the truth.” Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn. 14:6). Today, let us pray to receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may always have the courage to stand up for the truth, in spite of the consequences that doing so may have for us. Even though we may be rejected and persecuted by men for standing up for the truth, our actions are precious in the sight of the Lord.