Acts 7:44-60 (NRSV)
Read Acts 7:44-60 on biblegateway.com
Verse 44"Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. Verse 45Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, Verse 46who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. Verse 47But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Verse 48Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says, Verse 49'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Verse 50Did not my hand make all these things?'
Verse 51"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Verse 52Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. Verse 53You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."
Verse 54When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. Verse 55But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Verse 56"Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Verse 57But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Verse 58Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. Verse 59While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Verse 60Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.
Devotion
Right before they ripped open his head and body by throwing rocks at him, Stephen had a vision of Jesus. “Behold, I see…the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Jesus often used this title for himself. It can mean either a “typical human being” (just like us) or “the coming Messiah” (Dan. 7:13-14).
Jesus never explained what he meant by using the term. In those moments before his death, which “Son of Man” did Stephen see that comforted him?
Prayer
Son of Man, thank you for being "with" us in hard times. Son of Man, thank you for being "for" us in hard times. Amen.