Stephen Sees the Son of Man

Once Stephen completed his defense before the Sanhedrin against the charges of blasphemy, there could be no doubt that he regarded the Jewish leaders who arrested him as the true blasphemers of God (Acts 6:8–7:53). These leaders well understood this, for as we see in Acts 7:54, they seethed with anger and ground their teeth at Stephen in their ire. Blasphemy constitutes one of the most serious of sins (Ex. 20:7), and they could not abide their charge against Stephen put on their own heads.

This anger, we will see in our next study, would lead to their stoning Stephen to death (Acts 7:57–60). As today’s passage indicates, God granted Stephen a special vision of heaven to give him assurance in the moments before he died. Full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven to see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the Father’s right hand (v. 55). This connection between the divine glory and seeing Jesus helps us understand that the glory of God is seen in Jesus Himself.

Perhaps more significant in the immediate context is the fact that Jesus is standing in Stephen’s vision. Other texts tell us that Jesus sat down at God’s right hand when He ascended to heaven after accomplishing His work of salvation. In sitting down, He began to exercise His mediatorial kingship over creation (Ps. 110:1; Mark 16:19; Heb. 1:13). For our Lord to stand up must have a special meaning. Almost certainly, Jesus was standing as the defender of Stephen to plead His servant’s case to His Father and to acknowledge Stephen before the Father because Stephen had acknowledged Jesus before men (Matt. 10:32). We find confirmation of this in Stephen’s reference to Jesus as the Son of Man (Acts 7:56). The title “Son of Man” is especially associated with Jesus’ work of judgment (Dan. 7:9–14; Matt. 25:31–46). In Stephen’s vision, judgment was occurring, and Jesus, the Son of Man, stood to defend Stephen before God so that he would be received into glory. In other words, the Messiah stands in for His people, protecting them from all judicial allegations of sin, ready to receive them into eternal life. Matthew Henry comments: “[Jesus] is usually said to sit there; but Stephen sees him standing there, as one more than ordinarily concerned at present for his suffering servant; he stood up as a judge to plead his cause against his persecutors. . . . He stands ready to receive him and crown him, and in the mean time to give him a prospect of the joy set before him.”