From the Pulpit...

Stephen does not seem to be scared or anxious. He did not worry about what he was going to say (Matthew 10:19-20, Mark 13:11). To the contrary, he was sort of “glowing.” God gave some extraordinary appearance to Stephen so it would be even more evident that he was a messenger of God. In both gospel passages referenced, the outcome is those people would be delivered to death by their own brothers. As we know, that is what happened to Stephen, who became the first Christian martyr.