The Greek word stasis means a standing, a faction, strife, insurrection, or sedition. It describes the divisiveness of parties and factions, as well as armed uprising against authority. In the New Testament it appears in political contexts (Barabbas was imprisoned for insurrection) and in descriptions of church division and theological controversy.
The appearance of stasis in Acts is theologically significant. Barabbas was imprisoned for stasis (insurrection) and murder — the very charges that might have been brought against the revolutionary messiah many Jews expected. Jesus' release of Barabbas and His own crucifixion reveal the ironic inversion of the kingdom: the true King dies, the insurrectionist goes free. Paul encounters stasis in the Sanhedrin when he plays the Pharisees against the Sadducees (Acts 23:7-10). The word also captures the dangerous faction-spirit that could tear the early church apart — the opposite of the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17. Christian unity is not uniformity but the hard-won peace that transcends natural human stasis.