Acts 6:15

‘And all who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.'

But when Stephen came before them they were astonished, for when they gazed at his face it looked like the face of an angel. This probably means that he was so filled with the sense of the presence of God that his face in some way shone (compare Daniel 10:6; Matthew 28:3). This need not be seen as a miracle, but it should certainly have reminded them of how when Moses came to the people with a message from God his face too had shone (Exodus 34:29). They should therefore have realised that here was a man who had come to them with a message from God, and have been more open. He bore the truth of his own testimony on his face.

We should note how this phenomenon is brought into account later. Here they saw his face as though it was the face of an angel. In Acts 7:53 the sentence against the Sanhedrin is that ‘they received the Law as it was ordained by angels and kept them not.' Luke is bringing out how God was here giving the Sanhedrin a huge opportunity, speaking through His ‘angel' (messenger), as He had previously to Israel when He gave them the Law. The point is that in the end they responded to neither. Here was God's angel bringing a greater covenant, but they missed their opportunity once again.