What is Stephen's Defense in Acts 7 According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon, Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 was centered on showing how the Jewish leaders had completely misunderstood their own history and scriptures.

"Stephen is asked to reply to this charge and to speak for himself. The first verse tells us, then, said the high priest, are these things so? And Stephen begins to answer, and his method is to go over the history of the Children of Israel. They were Jews. They were familiar with the history. Why then does he take them over it? Well, to show them that they'd completely misunderstood it."

Stephen's main defense strategy was demonstrating that Moses himself had prophesied about the coming of Christ, making the accusation of blasphemy against Moses illogical. Stephen quotes Moses saying: "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear."

How Does Dr. Lloyd-Jones Explain Jesus Being "Like Moses but Greater"?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus was like Moses in several ways:

1. God raised him up at the perfect time: "When the fullness of the times was come, God sent forth his son."
2. He was a man and a Jew: "Of your brethren, like unto me."
3. He stood between God and men as a mediator, as Moses did.
4. He was a great teacher, as Moses was.
5. He was a guide and leader, as Moses led Israel.

However, Jesus was greater than Moses in crucial ways:

1. Moses was "only a servant" while Christ is the Son.
2. Moses was fallible and sinned; Christ is perfect.
3. Moses had only partial knowledge; Christ has all knowledge.
4. Moses was limited to one office, while Christ combines prophet, priest, and king.
5. Moses' law and temple were temporary, while Christ brings permanent salvation.

As Lloyd-Jones puts it: "Moses says, I'm simply a fingerpost, I'm simply a pointer. God is going to raise up somebody. He'll be like me. Oh no. But he'll be so infinitely bigger and greater."

Why Does Dr. Lloyd-Jones Say Jesus Had to Be Both God and Man?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus needed to be truly human for several critical reasons:

1. To be our representative: "He must be a man because we are men... We are men, and therefore our representative must be a man."

2. To address the human problem: "Since by men came death, by men also came the resurrection from the dead. It is man who has brought death into the universe."

3. To sympathize with us: "We need one who understands us and who can sympathize with us... We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

But Jesus also had to be God because:

1. "Man could not save us. I can prove that to you. The first man was perfect, and he was placed in a perfect involvement, but he fell."
2. Only God could enter the heavenly tabernacle and stand in God's presence.
3. Only a divine person could offer a perfect sacrifice.
4. Only God could conquer all our enemies - sin, death, and Satan.

Lloyd-Jones concludes: "He is perfect God and perfect men. And yet all in one person."

What Does Dr. Lloyd-Jones Say About Jesus Combining the Roles of Prophet, Priest, and King?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus uniquely fulfills all three major offices that were separated in the Old Testament:

As Prophet: "Moses was a prophet, Moses was a teacher, but it was only a partial teaching... The fullness and the completeness is found in one person and in one alone... In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

As Priest: "Moses was only teacher lawgiver. But here is one who is also priest. Aaron was the high priest, not Moses... Here is one who combines them all in himself... He offers his own blood. He is the great high priest. And as you noticed, he has done it once and forever."

As King: "We need a leader, don't we? We need someone to tell us how to live... Moses was a very good servant, but he was only a servant. We need a master... This universe belongs to him. Everything in it... He is the master of the house. He is the lord of the universe."

Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that only Jesus combines all three roles perfectly, making him the complete savior that all the Old Testament figures and institutions merely pointed toward.

Why Does Dr. Lloyd-Jones Say Many People Today Make the Same Mistake as the Sanhedrin?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones draws a direct parallel between the Sanhedrin's rejection of Christ and people today who rely on their own goodness or religious observance:

"This is the condemnation of all that that is inadequate, that cannot save. And you see the relevance of all this to the present time. There are many people still who are rejecting and refusing the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior and redeemer. Why? Well, they're trusting to their good lives. They say, I've never done this or that. I'm doing a lot of good and I'm a religious person. I'm a church member. It's exactly the fallacy of the members of the Sanhedrin, relying upon good works and upon an external religion with its forms and its ceremonies."

He specifically mentions the "trend back to Rome" as evidence of people still clinging to "the temple, back to the ceremonial and the ritual and the priests" rather than understanding that these were only temporary shadows pointing to Christ.

Lloyd-Jones concludes his sermon by directly challenging his listeners: "Are you just trusting to the fact that you're better than somebody else? Are you just trusting to the fact that you never got drunk or committed adultery or murder? Are you just trusting to the fact that you're religious and trying to be good and trying to be pious? If so, you're like the members of the Sanhedrin."