Jump Start # 1182

Acts 7:56 “and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

  Our verse today comes from the lips of Stephen. His preaching stirred the crowds. They hated what they heard. They rushed him, pushed him out of town and then picked up stones to execute him. They didn’t wait to get permission from the Romans. They produced phony evidence and dishonest accusations. Their intent was to stop his message. Jesus was dead, yet the movement was growing. They had imprisoned the apostles on several occasions, but they kept getting out and the number of followers increased. This wasn’t the way the Jewish leaders expected. Generally, killing the leader would quiet down the followers and they would fade away. Not with Jesus. The message was being told everywhere. The number of followers was exploding every day. So now they had Stephen.

Stephen is first introduced to us in Acts 6. There was a problem of neglect and the apostles told the congregation to choose seven dependable men to take care of it. Stephen’s name heads the list. He preaches later in Acts 6. This is what gets him in trouble with the Jewish leaders. He is brought before the council, along with made up charges and fake evidence. The seventh chapter of Acts is his reply. It is one of the best overviews of O.T. history and the promises of God. The chapter ends with Stephen’s death.

Our verse comes from Stephen right before the rocks start flying toward him. He saw the Heavens opened and he saw Jesus standing. That is a special statement. Several times the N.T. emphases Jesus ascending to Heaven. It says in Ephesians, Colossians and other places that Jesus sat at the right hand of God. Jesus sat. Jesus is right there with God. The image is that they are sitting on the throne. Jesus’ promise to the Laodiceans was that if they overcame He would allow them to sit with Him on the throne, “as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

The image of the monarch, the king sitting and the subjects coming before the king is illustrated in the O.T. and in many European histories. Kings sit and the citizens bow before the king. However, for Stephen, it was different. Jesus was standing. He was standing up.

We stand when the National Anthem is played. We stand to applaud a performance. We stand in honor. Here Jesus was standing. Stephen was about to be put to death. He would be the first Christian to die as a martyr. He was following a long line of those who had been executed for their faith. John the Baptist was beheaded for his faith. Beheadings are still in the news today. Now it was Stephen’s turn. He was the first since Jesus’ death. Jesus was watching. He was standing. He knew.

It is interesting that Jesus didn’t stop it. Stephen never prayed for it to be stopped. He prayed for his executors. He asked the Lord to receive his spirit. He never asked for this to stop. A few pages later the apostle James is executed by Herod’s sword. Legend has it that nearly all the apostles were executed. There would be many that were imprisoned and many that would be executed in the second and third centuries. Stephen was the first. Jesus didn’t look away. Jesus wasn’t so busy that He didn’t know. He stood. He watched. The world will hate us. Jesus told us that. Death is not the end, it never is. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. In a very short time, Jesus would be receiving Stephen. He saw the face of Jesus when he died.

We tell stories about suffering all the time, but still, when it happens to us, we don’t get it. We think somehow that God ought to prevent these things. We think that it isn’t fair and right. We can get upset at God. The three young men in Daniel went into the fiery furnace. God saved them, but they were still put in there. Daniel had his lion’s den. Yes, God saved him, but he was still in there. Jeremiah was in a pit. Paul was stoned multiple times. The faith of our fathers is a story about suffering saints. Why did they go through with those things? Because Jesus did. Because it was right. Because to save their skin, they had to deny their faith and they wouldn’t pay that price. Because they loved God.

Do we see Jesus standing when we die? I don’t know. I have heard family members talk about a dying family member seeing angels. Possibly? Since they died, we don’t know. No one comes back to tell what they saw. We remember Lazarus was carried by the angels at his death. I expect that still happens for the righteous.

We are not alone in our death. That’s the comforting thought. Stephen was surrounded by an angry mob. He had no one to defend him, rescue him or to offer comfort in his last moments. However, he had Jesus. Jesus was standing. Jesus was visible to Stephen. He died very similar to Jesus. Not begging for his life. Not cursing his executioners. But with a prayer on his lips and hope in his heart. That’s how he passed from this world to the next.

The very fact that he saw Jesus standing teaches us that our Lord is aware of what is happening to us. We may feel very alone, but He sees. He sees the difficulties we go through. He sees the frustrations we have with others. He sees the good that we try to do. He sees. I took some golf lessons several years ago. It was a group lesson. The golf pro would show us what to do. Then we would try to repeat what he had shown us. It was great, except he would walk behind each of us and watch each of us. I was doing great until he came and stood behind me. It always made me so nervous knowing he was watching me. He was good and I wasn’t. I don’t get that impression from our passage in Acts. I don’t see that Stephen was nervous to have Jesus watching him. I see it as comfort, assurance, peace and hope. That is how we ought to feel. Yes, Jesus is so good and we are not. However, he’s our friend. He’s there to help us.

Jesus standing…what a great thought.

Roger