Stephen Is Transfigured before the Sanhedrin
Acts 6:7–15
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“Preaching, miracles, and mighty displays of divine favor, were not limited to the Apostles. Stephen, called to do more than ‘serve tables,’ stepped forth as a mighty preacher of righteousness and a worker of signs and wonders. But miracles alone do not convert. Though the Council [the Sanhedrin] knew of the miracles and saw Stephen’s face shine with transfiguring radiance, yet, spiritually diseased as they were, they rejected his Spirit-born witness of Christ and of salvation. How true is our Lord’s declaration: ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead’ (Luke 16:31). . . .
“. . . Jesus had prophesied the complete destruction of their temple [see Matt. 24:1–2]. He had come to change not only the customs given by Moses, but to fulfill and transcend the whole law revealed through him. And in so teaching, Stephen was but echoing the precepts of his Lord. The false witnesses, thus, were guilty because they twisted, wrested, and perverted Stephen’s teachings—a practice common among those who oppose true and revealed religion.
“. . . Stephen was transfigured before them, visible witness thus being given that God was with him. In a lesser degree, it was with Stephen as it had been with Moses, the skin of whose face shown visibly after he had communed with the Lord for forty days on the mountain [see Exodus 34:29–35].”
(Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 2:67.)
