The Son of Man standing
Notes
Transcript
The Son of Man standing
The Son of Man standing
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts7.54-
Acts7.54
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
The first Martyr of the church… An ugly scene no doubt. But there is something in these few verses that I have longed to preach to you. Not the death of a precious saint, and not the hardness of heart these religious leaders had, even though that is clearly in the text. But there is something more, I hope you saw it… Yet the title of the sermon will give it away.
The Son of Man standing… What is so incredible about this? Well let’s work through the text and make sure we understand what is going on here and then circle back to understanding the significance of this.
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
What things did they hear? If you remember last week we said that Stephen had given them an exercise inBiblical theology by recounting the history of the nation of Israel. He went into detail to use their own history to show them how Jesus is the true fulfillment of everything they accused him of blaspheming against. Stephen masterfully pointed out that their father had killed the prophets of old and they they were responsible for killing Jesus.
He ends his long sermon with calling them stiffnecked people and… well let’s just read it again to be sure we have it right.
51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
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It was at this that these hellenists, which were Jews who spoke greek, and the Sanhedrin, or religious leaders of that day, were enraged. Stephen told them your father kill were wrong and so are you, by the way you killed the Righteous One.
The tension in this scene is at its climax but there will be one more thing that will send them over the edge.
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Acts755-56