John Calvin Commentary Acts 8:2

"And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him." — Acts 8:2 (ASV)

They dressed Stephen. Luke shows that even in the heat of persecution the godly were not discouraged but, being always zealous, performed those duties that belonged to godliness. Burial seems to be a matter of small importance; yet, rather than neglect it, they exposed themselves to no small danger to their lives.

And as the circumstance of time declares that they valiantly despised death, so also, we gather from this that they were careful to do this not without great and urgent cause. For this greatly served to exercise their faith: that the body of the holy martyr should not be left to the wild beasts, in whom Christ had triumphed nobly according to the glory of His gospel.

Neither could they live for Christ unless they were ready to be gathered to Stephen into the fellowship of death. Therefore, the care they took to bury the martyr was for them a meditation leading to invincible constancy in professing the faith. Therefore, they did not seek to provoke their adversaries in a superfluous matter with ill-advised zeal.

Although that general reason, which ought always and everywhere to be valid among the godly, was undoubtedly of great weight with them. For the rite of burial pertains to the hope of the resurrection, as it was ordained by God from the beginning of the world for this purpose.

Therefore, it was always considered cruel barbarism to willingly allow bodies to lie unburied. Ungodly men did not know why they should consider the rite of burial so holy; but we are not ignorant of its purpose, namely, that those who remain alive may know that the bodies are committed to the earth as to a prison, until they are raised up from there.

From this it appears that this duty is profitable more for those who are alive than for those who are dead, although it is also a part of our humanity to give due honor to those bodies to which we know blessed immortality is promised.

They made great lamentation. Luke also commends their profession of godliness and faith in their lamentation. For a sorrowful and unfortunate end usually causes men to forsake those causes in which they previously delighted. But, on the other hand, these men declare by their mourning that they are not in the least terrified by Stephen's death from standing firmly in approval of their cause, considering at the same time what a great loss God’s Church suffered by the death of one man.

And we must reject that foolish philosophy which wants all men to be completely unfeeling so that they may be wise. It must be that the Stoics, who would have a man be without any emotion, were devoid of common sense. Certain madmen would gladly introduce the same foolish ideas into the Church today; and yet, notwithstanding, although they require hearts of iron from other men, nothing is softer or more effeminate than they themselves are.

They cannot bear for other men to shed a single tear; yet if anything turns out contrary to their wishes, they mourn endlessly. God thus punishes their arrogance jestingly (if I may call it that), seeing that He makes them a laughingstock even to boys.

But let us understand that those emotions which God has given to human nature are not, in themselves, any more corrupt than their Author Himself; rather, they are to be evaluated first according to their cause, and secondly, according to whether they maintain a balance and moderation. Surely, the man who denies that we ought to rejoice over the gifts of God is more like a block of wood than a man; therefore, we may just as lawfully sorrow when they are taken away.

And lest I go beyond the scope of this present passage, Paul does not forbid mourning altogether when any of their friends are taken away by death, but he desires a distinction between believers and unbelievers, because hope ought to be for them a comfort and a remedy against impatience.

For the reality of death rightly causes us to sorrow; but because we know that life has been restored to us in Christ, we have what is sufficient to appease our sorrow. Similarly, when we are sorry that the Church is deprived of rare and excellent men, there is good cause for sorrow; only we must seek such comfort as may correct any excess.