What did the stoning of Stephen represent in Israel's response to Christ?
The stoning of Stephen represented Israel's crescendo point of rejection of Christ, not acceptance. It was the nation's pinnacle declaration that they would not have this man rule over them. Because Rome let the Jews handle their own religious system, this Jewish execution marked the climax of Israel's refusal.
Les explains that throughout Acts to this point the narrative has been Jewish—Peter, Peter, Peter, then Stephen—all Jewish. At Stephen's stoning, Israel reaches the crescendo point of her rejection, not acceptance: the nation is saying, in effect, “we will not have this man to rule over us.” The execution was permitted because Rome let the Jews handle their own religious system and did not interfere when they punished their own. The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul, and at this pinnacle of rejection God introduces someone to the scene.