After receiving some questions, I realize that I need to set the context for this imagined story. The speaker is a member of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem who has just participated in stoning Stephen to death. Stoning was a method of execution that required community participation, so you would get together with friends and colleagues to put someone to death. The speaker would likely be a Sadducee, a faction that tended toward a more liberal and enlightened view of Torah and sought to appease Rome to keep the peace. I have made no attempt to couch the speaker’s monologue in first-century terms but have instead used modern phrases to convey a very human (and hypocritical) attitude.
Stoning someone to death is hot work. It’s not just pelting someone with rocks. You have to choose heavy rocks that will do some serious damage, and you have to stand over the condemned and bring the stone down on their body as hard as you can. Even with several strong men doing the work, it can take a good half hour to smash the life out of someone with stones. That’s why we took off our cloaks and left them in charge of Saul.
He was a real up-and-comer, that Saul. Smart as a whip, fluent in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. He knew the Torah as well as anyone and had also read the best Greek poets. Absolutely unbeatable in a debate. He had real integrity too. We knew we could trust him to watch over our cloaks while we executed Stephen for his blasphemous speech.
Who did he think he was, accusing us of ignoring God’s law? We were the ones charged with keeping it and making sure everyone else kept it too. And trying to blame us for the execution of that Jesus fellow. Everyone knows that was a mob that just got out of hand. Pilate gave in to them to prevent a riot. Only the Roman governor could issue a death penalty verdict. That Jesus got what he deserved. He was deceiving the people, claiming to be God’s unique son and making himself God’s equal. Only someone mentally deranged or possessed by demons could believe the bullshit his followers said about him after he was crucified. No one who had the powers he was supposed to have would let himself be tortured to death.
Stephen himself was almost as bad. He not only claimed that this Jesus was God’s son, he said he had risen from the dead after being crucified. He and the rest of the leaders of this Way have filled all Jerusalem with their lies. It was time we made an example of one of them to put a stop to their campaign of disinformation once and for all. We already tried stern warnings and even flogging, but it seemed to have no effect. The number of people joining the Way only increased, but when they see that they risk their lives to believe these men, they will show some sense and give up their wild conspiracy theories.
All we want is for things to go back to the way they were. We need to protect ourselves to keep Rome from seeing us as troublesome. The people who are agitating for change don’t know anything. Rome is ruthless toward those it perceives as its enemies. We could all lose our positions of influence and be seen as traitors to Rome. No one wants that. Even the rabble, if they could be made to understand what is at stake, would agree that crushing this Way is best for everyone. We have to enforce the Law. We have to protect the peace.