He Stood Up

(I know I have made this observation before, but I cannot remember if I have made it here - on my blog... I shared this with the patients at the Christian Clinic last night, and I thought I'd share it here... so, if you've heard this before, please read it again!)

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is recorded in the 7th chapter of Acts. Yep, I know, that's the story of Stephen's sermon to and subsequent stoning by the San Hedrin... and I know it may seem really odd that, of all the stories in the Bible, the martyrdom of Stephen would rank as one of my favorites... so let me explain:

After being brought before the San Hedrin (jewish rulers; the equivalent of today's supreme court), Stephen engaged these self-righteous religious leaders in a conversation which quickly turned into a very harsh indictment of their historically poor treatment of the prophets... the impromptu sermonette then convicted them of murdering Jesus, culminating in his calling this austere group a 'stiff-necked and uncircumcised' bunch who, like their forefathers, were guilty of 'resisting the Holy Spirit'.

Then the meeting got really ugly... the Bible says the members of the San Hedrin 'gnashed their teeth' at Stephen. It is this next part of the story which makes this one of my favorites:

Just before they rushed him and dragged him outside the city gates and stoned him to death, Stephen looks up into heaven and, thank God, reports to the San Hedrin (and to us) exactly what he sees...

"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the

Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Did you catch it? Did you notice the 'posture' of Jesus? I have read and re-read and studied this passage for my entire life, and I just now got it...

You see, Jesus is described 12 times in your New Testament as being at the right hand of God... but in EVERY CASE, He is SEATED!!!

Now do you have chills? Stephen looked up into heaven and saw Jesus STANDING at God's right hand! It's as if Jesus, who in every other description is seated beside the throne of God, saw what Stephen did...

and stood up.

May I suggest that Jesus gave Stephen a standing ovation? May I further submit that Jesus 'stands up' for you and me as well?

It reminds me of the description we read about in Hebrews 12... how the heroes of the faith who have gone before us are 'cheering us on' as we run our Race. I picture this 'great cloud of witnesses' giving us a standing ovation of encouragement... how cool is that?

So next time you think of the story of the stoning of Stephen... I want you to remember that Jesus' reaction is unique and remarkable and, well.... so..... 'Jesus':

He stood up.

wow