Acts 8:1

A second major division of Acts begins with Acts 8:5; but the first four verses continue to focus upon the church in Jerusalem. The conversion of the Samaritans by Philip is given (Acts 8:5-25), and also the conversion of the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40).

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1)

This sentence actually belongs to the narrative in the preceding chapter. One is almost shocked at the casual way in which so important a person as Saul of Tarsus is here introduced; but the placement of this announcement in close connection with the martyrdom of Stephen almost demands that the relation between that martyrdom and the conversion of Saul should be observed. As J.S. Howson said:

We cannot dissociate the martyrdom of Stephen from the conversion of Paul. The spectacle of so much constancy, so much faith, so much love, could not be lost. It is hardly too much to say with Augustine that "the church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen."[1]

The same writer also called attention to the gloom which surrounded the infant church at that time, and to the "brightness which invests the scene of the martyr's last moments."

The first apostle who died was a traitor; and the first Christians whose deaths are recorded were liars and hypocrites. The kingdom of the Son of man was founded in darkness and gloom; but a heavenly light reappeared with the martyrdom of Stephen.[2]

On that day a great persecution ... does not mean that all of the persecutions occurred on that day, but that upon that day was initiated a policy of extermination directed against the new faith. God, in this, was overruling the evil which men perpetrated, in order to accomplish the extension of the gospel beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem. The first murderous persecution against the church was launched by the Sanhedrin, both the Sadducees and the Pharisees supporting the campaign to drown the infant church in blood.

Except the apostles ... Barnes observed that:

For them to have fled would have exposed them, as leaders and founders of the new religion, to the charge of timidity and weakness. They remained; and a merciful Providence watched over them and defended them from harm.[3]

In time, of course, the apostles would also leave Jerusalem; but for the moment they considered it their duty to remain.

[1] J. S. Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1966), p. 62.

[2] Ibid., p. 63.

[3] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), Vol. Acts, p. 137.