Stressed OutSample

Stephen had been telling people about Jesus and the religious leaders had had enough. They got some people to lie and say that Stephen was going to change the laws of Moses and that he was teaching that Jesus was going to destroy the temple. Neither was true. But Stephen was put in front of the high council and the high priest asked him to defend himself. Stephen walked them through several passages of the Old Testament and then talked about Jesus. His words weren’t inaccurate, but the religious leaders were infuriated.

As Stephen stood up for Jesus in the midst of the angry crowd, he said this: “Look . . . I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). The religious leaders couldn’t handle it. They took Stephen outside of the city and stoned him to death. But as Stephen was standing up for Jesus, what he saw was interesting. After Jesus went back to Heaven, Scripture describes Him as sitting at God’s right hand—sitting, not standing (Matthew 25:31). Apparently, earth’s activities were on heaven’s radar. When Stephen stood up for Jesus, Jesus stood up for Him. Stephen got a standing ovation from heaven.