Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 04, Rabu 25 Julai 2018

Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 04
Rabu, 25 Julai 2018

Yesus Di Mahkamah Syurga

Oleh kerana definisi nabi (dalam Ibrani) adalah seseorang yang bercakap bagi Tuhan, Stefanus menjadi seorang nabi sebaik-baik dia mengetengahkan rib Tuhan menentang Israel. Bagaimanapun, pelayanan kenabiannya sangat pendek waktunya.

Sila baca Kisah 7:55, 56. Apakah maksud penglihatan Stefanus?

Apabila Stefanus sampai kepada pokok perbincangan, maka berlakulah huru-hara di kalangan orang-orang tersebut. Apabila dia mengaitkan Kristus dengan nubuatan-nubuatan dan berbicara seperti dia berbicara di dalam rumah ibadah, imam tersebut berpura-pura merasa takut yang mengerikan dan mengoyakkan jubahnya. Bagi Stefanus, tindakan tersebut merupakan petanda bahawa suaranya akan segera senyap selama-lamanya. Dia dapat melihat rintangan yang menemui kata-katanya dan mengetahui bahawa dia memberikan kesaksian terakhirnya. Namun dalam pertengahan khutbahnya dia tiba-tiba memberikan kesimpulan.”-Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, ms. 100.

Sementara Stefanus berdiri di hadapan pemimpin-pemimpin Yahudi mendakwa bahawa kes Tuhan bertentangan dengan mereka, Yesus sedang berdiri di mahkamah Syurga, iaitu di tempat sanktuari syurga; di samping Bapa dan memberi petanda bahawa penghakiman sebenar akan bermula di Syurga. Tuhan akan mengadili guru-guru palsu dan pemimpin-pemimpin Israel.

Perkara tersebut menjelaskan mengapa panggilan untuk bertaubat, merupakan ciri-ciri penting yang biasa dalam ceramah-ceramah terdahulu dalam Kisah (2:38; 3:19; 5:31), tidak terdapat di sini. Teokrasi bangsa Israel telah tiba kepada penghujungnya, bermakna bahawa Israel bukan lagi sebagai pendamai atau orang tengah di dalam membawa keselamatan kepada dunia sebagaimana janji kepada Abraham (Kejadian 12:3; 18:18; 22:18), tetapi melalui pengikut-pepngikut Yesus, Yahudi dan orang Asing yang sekarang ini dijangka akan keluar daripada Jerusalem dan memberi kesaksian kepada dunia (Kisah 1:8).

Sila baca Kisah 7:57-8:1, 2. Bagaimana Lukas melaporkan kematian Stefanus?

Hukuman bagi penghujah adalah mati dilempar batu (Imamat 24:14), sekalipun tidak begitu jelas sama ada Stefanus dihukum bunuh atau hanya menghukum bunuh dengan tiada pengadilan rasmi oleh kumpulan fanatik. Apapun tanggapan, dialah orang percaya kepada Yesus tercatat yang pertama telah dibunuh oleh kerana imannya. Bahawa saksi-saksi meletakkan pakaian mereka di kaki Saulus mengisyaratkan dia adalah pemimpin lawan Stefanus; namun, ketika Stefanus berdoa untuk para penghukumnya, dia juga berdoa untuk Saulus. Hanya orang yang mempunyai watak yang unggul dan iman yang tidak tergoyang dapat berbuat demikian, suatu manifestasi iman yang kukuh dan realiti kepada Yesua dalam hidupnya.

Sabbath School Lesson 4
Wednesday July 25

Jesus in the Heavenly Court

Since by definition a prophet (in Hebrew, na?î) is someone who speaks for God, Stephen became a prophet the very moment he brought God’s rî?against Israel. His prophetic ministry, however, was rather short.

Read Acts 7:55, 56. What was the meaning of Stephen’s vision?

“When Stephen reached this point, there was a tumult among the people. When he connected Christ with the prophecies and spoke as he did of the temple, the priest, pretending to be horror-stricken, rent his robe. To Stephen this act was a signal that his voice would soon be silenced forever. He saw the resistance that met his words and knew that he was giving his last testimony. Although in the midst of his sermon, he abruptly concluded it.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 100.

While Stephen stood before the Jewish leaders discharging God’s case against them, Jesus was standing in the heavenly court—that is, in the heavenly sanctuary, next to the Father, an indication that the judgment on earth was but an expression of the real judgment that would take place in heaven. God would judge the false teachers and leaders in Israel.

This explains why the call to repentance, a common feature in the previous speeches in Acts (2:38, 3:19, 5:31), is missing here. Israel’s theocracy was coming to an end, meaning that the world’s salvation would no longer be mediated through national Israel as promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:3, 18:18, 22:18), but through the followers of Jesus, Jew and Gentile, who were now expected to leave Jerusalem and witness to the world (Acts 1:8).

Read Acts 7:57-8:1, 2. How does Luke report Stephen’s death?

Stoning was the penalty for blasphemy (Lev. 24:14), though it is not clear whether Stephen was sentenced to death or lynched by a crowd of fanatics. At any rate, he was the first recorded believer in Jesus to be killed because of his faith. That the witnesses laid their garments at Saul’s feet suggests he was the leader of Stephen’s opponents; yet, when Stephen prayed for his executioners, he prayed for Saul, as well. Only a person with a superior character and unwavering faith could do such a thing, a powerful manifestation of his faith and the reality of Christ in his life.

Disalin semula oleh : A. A. Pondili