Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 7:56

"and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." — Acts 7:56 (ASV)

While the content and tone of his address infuriated the council, Stephen’s follow-up solemn pronouncement raised again the specter of blasphemy and brought his hearers to a frenzied pitch: “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Only a few years before, Jesus had stood before this same tribunal and had been condemned for answering affirmatively the high priest’s question as to his being Israel’s Messiah and for saying of himself: “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Now Stephen was saying, in effect, that his vision confirmed Jesus’ claim and condemned the council for having rejected him. Unless the council members were prepared to repent and admit their awful error, they had no option but to find Stephen also guilty of blasphemy. Had he been judged only an impertinent apostate (cf. 5:40), the thirty-nine lashes of Jewish punishment would have been appropriate. But to be openly blasphemous before the council as well was a matter demanding death.

Luke’s description of Stephen as “full of the Holy Spirit” is in line with his characterizations of him in 6:3, 5, 8, 15. The identification of Jesus as “the Son of Man” is used outside the Gospels only here and at Rev 1:13; 14:14 (also at Heb 2:6, though as a locution for a human being in line with Ps 8:4). In the Gospels except for Lk 24:7; Jn 12:34, Jesus alone used “Son of Man” in referring to himself (see comment on Mk 8:31). The title was generally not attributed to Jesus by the church between the time when his sufferings were completed and when he would assume his full glory. Here, however, an anticipation of Christ’s full glory is set within a martyr context (as also at Rev 1:13; 14:14), and, therefore, “Son of Man” is fully appropriate.

In Stephen’s vision the juxtaposition of “the glory [GK 1518] of God” and the name of Jesus—together with his saying that he sees “heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”—is Christologically significant. The OT viewed “the glory of God” as the revelation of the nature of God or even as the divine mode of being itself. By bringing together “the glory of God” and the name of Jesus, therefore, Luke suggests that Jesus manifested the divine nature and the divine mode of being. Likewise, inasmuch as God dwells in the highest heaven, the open heaven with Christ at God’s right hand suggests something about his work as providing access into the very presence of God.

Stephen’s reference to Jesus “standing” at the right hand of God, which differs from the “sitting” of Ps 110:1 (the passage alluded to here), has been variously understood. Most commentators have interpreted the “standing” to suggest Jesus’ welcome of his martyred follower, who, like the repentant criminal of Lk 23:43, was received into heaven the moment he died. Dispensational commentators have taken Stephen’s reference to Jesus’ “standing” as supporting their view that the distinctive redemptive message for this age was not proclaimed till the Pauline gospel; and, therefore, in the transitional period between Israel and the church, Jesus is represented as not yet having taken his seat at God’s right hand. Still others speak of Jesus as “standing” in order to enter his messianic office on earth or depict him as “standing” in line with the common representation of angels standing in the presence of God.

Regardless of what position one takes, we should emphasize the idea of “witness” as being connoted in Jesus’ “standing.” Stephen has been acknowledging Christ before the council, and now he sees Christ acknowledging his servant before God (cf. Matthew 10:32). The proper posture for a witness is standing. Stephen has been condemned by an earthly court and appeals for vindication to a heavenly court.