Acts 7:54-60 Father, Forgive Them

 When they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.  But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;  and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”  But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse.  When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.  They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”  Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

The confrontation presented here can be described in the prologue to the Gospel of John: "In the beginning  there was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  Through Him all things were made through Him.  The Word shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot comprehend it."  There you go.  Stephen, an emissary of Jesus Christ presents the Word of God to the world.  Because the world's heart is hard, it cannot understand it, so they choose to destroy it.  Stephen repeats the words of Jesus on the cross which is, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, when I am persecuted in the world, because I belong to You and not the world,
let me be quick to forgive, knowing that this is Your desire.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.