Acts 7:54-60

March 31, 2002  

Our Reception by the Resurrected Christ

The story is told that Andrew Jackson’s boyhood friends just couldn’t understand how he became a famous general and then the President of the United States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never succeeded. One of Jackson’s friends said, “Why, Jim Brown, who lived right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look where Andy is now.” Another friend responded, “How did there happen to be a fourth time? Didn’t they usually say three times and out?” “Sure, they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat—he would never stay ‘throwed.’ Jim Brown would get tired, and on the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner.”

There are those who, through tenacity and sheer will power, can get “throwed” again and again but still come back for more. We are often amazed at such strong-willed people, admiring them for their resilience. Yet we all know, that there are times in life that no matter how determined we are, no matter how persistent or obstinate we may be, we can’t just get back in the ring. What do we do when that which throws us is far greater than the fight we got in us?

Our passage this Easter morning points us to the resurrection where we can go when life is far too great for you to handle. In Acts 7 Stephen needed strength far greater than he could muster for what he was about to face. As the church’s first martyr, he faced death Christ-like, imitating his savior’s death. The reason he was able is found in his glimpse of the resurrected Christ.

The past several weeks we have examined Stephen’s rehearsal of the great themes of the Old Testament as a response to the charges leveled against him by the Jewish high court. Stephen was chosen by the Apostles to care for Greek speaking widows in Jerusalem, but also engaged his fellow Greek Jews whether Jesus is the Messiah. For this, he was accused of blasphemy. The gospel he proclaimed made it clear that salvation came not in conjunction with our obedience to the Law of Moses nor was God’s favor more pronounced due to the proximity of the temple. Rather, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and put and put an end to temple sacrifices.

Standing before the Sanhedrin, Stephen retold the familiar story. In so doing, he reminded them of the constant history of failure to obey God’s Law as well as their desire to worship what their hands made rather than God. As he sought to show their need of Christ, he called them to have a change of mind, to repent. This they did not want to hear. READ Acts 7:54-60

The high courts’ refusal to repent brought more than scorn on Stephen. They became enraged, literally cut in two, ripped apart by the accusation that they were offensive to God and needed his grace. They ground their teeth and becoming like brute beasts, hungering for the taste of blood. What angered them more is described in v55, Stephen, still evidencing God’s grace, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked not at his accusers, but looked in faith to God. There he saw the glory of God, the shekinah, the presence of God that Jews believed rested in one place, the Temple. In v56 he pronounces for all to hear words that will anger his opponents to murder: he saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

With this, they flew into frenzy – for to pronounce that Jesus, whom they had killed for saying similar words, was in God’s presence could not be tolerated. It is debated whether what happened next was a judicial execution or an illegal lynching, but whatever it was, they went about to kill Stephen for what he proclaimed to be true.

In the first century, the Romans outlawed executions that they themselves did not sanction and perform. But perhaps due to the speediness of the court’s action or the Roman authorities turning a blind eye to their fury, they dragged Stephen outside the city walls. There they shed their own garments, giving freedom to vent their wrath with more precision and they rained rocks on Stephen. But before he drew his final breath, Stephen called out two prayers, one for himself, the other for his tormentors, again, following the example of his own savior. He prayed for himself, repeating the last words of Jesus, prayed not to the Father, but to the Son, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (v59)

He commits himself to the one committed to him, knowing that he will be received by the Son, into the Father’s presence, he dies as he lived, in faith. While his body was broken and shattered, overwhelmed in a shower of stones, he knew that God would have for him on that final day, a new body, raised liked Christ. Seeing the risen Christ pointed him to the hope that he too would be raised.

He does not minimize their culpability, but seeks that God’s mercy would be the answer to their sin. Despite their fury, he prayed for forgiveness, in place of malice, he desired mercy. This prayer, called out in a loud voice, convicted one, Saul of Tarsus. Those words were among the pricks God used in Saul’s life when he confessed his need to be forgiven, when confronted by the risen Christ. 

In the face of this, Stephen’s ability to trust Christ for his own eternal life as well as the lives of those who sought his death was not the cravings of a madman, nor was it due to some greater holiness residing in him. Rather, the reason behind his refusal to renounce his faith, his resilience in the face of death comes from a resurrected Christ. The vision he had, recorded for our benefit, should likewise give us strength when we face times too tough for us to withstand. We are going to focus on what Stephen pronounced in v56 this morning as we see our reception by the resurrected Christ.

The resurrected Christ is our judge

As the high court pronounces Stephen a heretic and soon a blasphemer worthy of death, Stephen’s vision is that of his heavenly judge. In v55 we are told it is Jesus, but in v56 Stephen calls him the “Son of Man”. This term, common for Jesus to say, is never found on another’s lips in the New Testament. Jesus gave the meaning of this name in Matthew 26:64 when he stood before this same court about to be judged as a blasphemer, claiming that he is God.

Jesus quotes from Daniel 7:13-14, where the Divine sovereign entrusts power to the one standing before him. The vision in God’s throne room was a vision of a Judge ready to rule the universe. Jesus describes this role as judge in Mt 25:31 who will dispense to those blessed by the Father an inheritance prepared from the foundation of the world.” In seeing Jesus as the Son of Man in heaven, Stephen proclaims that the court, not he, are the guilty ones. The boundless reign of Jesus demands that they cease from self worship to worship Christ as their sovereign.

When it comes to suffering Peter uses this same image in 1 Peter 2:21ff. We are to follow in Christ’s footsteps of suffering, so that when the pressures of life are too heavy to bear, when others harm and defame us, we must entrust ourselves to him who judges justly.

Christ is our judge, we allow him to weigh and see what should happen. Rather than marshalling a self defense when accused, we have a judge in Christ, now resurrected and ascended to the Father’s right side, who will dispense justice in his time, according to his Law. When the coworker accuses or the family member spreads lies about you, that Christ is raised from the dead means that he will be the final judge, he will set all matters straight in the end.

What enabled Stephen to look beyond his tormentors’ anger and see Christ, is knowing that since Christ is risen from the dead, he is the final judge of all things. Our success, our status is based not on what we do, but on a sovereign God at work in our world. Even when we fail, and fail miserably, we can have the confidence that as Christ is now raised, all the wrongs will be made right by Him.

Steven Bradbury of Australia hasn't always been known for his prowess on ice. In fact, you might say he is an accident waiting to happen. In 1994, Bradbury cut his leg in a World Cup skating competition and almost bled to death, losing four liters of blood and receiving 111 stitches. Just a year and a half ago, he crashed headfirst into the boards while training and broke his neck. He chose to defy doctors, who told him that if he skated again he risked permanent paralysis. He staged a comeback in time for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Steven Bradbury was, in many commentators' opinions, the least likely skater to win a medal--any medal--at the games. And yet he won gold. Bradbury's victory is remarkable not only because he had encountered so many setbacks and defeats, but because he won it after the other four skaters in the event fell down just before the finish.  You could almost see Bradbury thinking, "I'm still standing up. I'm crossing the finish line. I just won the race!" He skated from last to first in a split second. His victory was not based on his own skill, but as the judges determined that he won gold, their decree made it so.

We no longer fear to stand before God, for Christ is our judge and he has declared us guiltless, not for perfect lives now lived, but because of his work for us. With the great hymn we can say with confidence:

The resurrected Christ is our intercessor

To be at the right hand of God communicates not only power, but the on going work of the risen Christ.

Far too often we imagine that the work of Christ began on Christmas and ends at Easter, as if the resurrection is but the final chapter. What we celebrate each and every Lord’s Day is that resurrection of which we are especially mindful today. Christ’s resurrection gives me confidence that he now pleads my case before the Father. He reigns not only as King and Judge of all creation, but as the High Priest for his people, interceding on our behalf.

To see the risen Christ is to see the atonement now being applied to us. There is confidence in the troubles I face today knowing that Christ has not given up on me. Hebrews 9:11-15 describes this work. The risen Christ not only defeated death, but now mediates on my behalf.

Seeing the risen Christ at the right hand of God is to enjoy the benefit described in 9:14 – a conscience purified from dead works to serve a living God. Stephen’s standing before God was not based on his brilliant summation of God’s dealing with Israel, nor his continual witness to those in the Synagogue of the Freedmen, nor his tireless labors getting food to widows. All those good things are but dead works. It is not that they should not be done, but rather doing them has no effect on our standing before God. God’s pleasure poured out on us is secured and now ours because Christ has risen and is now before the Father pleading our case today.

In the early years of missionaries going to remote parts of the globe, the sending agencies often produced manuals to guide them through the difficult adjustment in a new and foreboding land. I recall one such piece of advice from one manual giving instruction on how to respond to an attack by a hungry python. The instructions warn not to run, as the python is always faster, rather, the thing to do is to lie flat on the ground on your back with your feet together, arms at your side, head down. Keep calm (that was underscored). "You must let him swallow your foot. It is quite painless and it will take a long time. If you lose your head and struggle, he will quickly whip his coils around you. If you keep calm and still, he will go on swallowing. Wait patiently until he has swallowed up to about your knee. Then carefully take out your knife and insert it into the distended side of his mouth and with a quick rip slit him up."

I’m not sure such a procedure was ever attempted and if so was ever successful. But often when we face problems in our lives we think that is the approach we must take, to lie silently and allow the trial to overtake you. But the gospel doesn’t call us to a stoic response such as that, for we have one who intercedes for us. Stephen stood up against his persecutors not because he was strong, but that Christ had risen from the dead and was now interceding. As we find ourselves engulfed with worry, we cry out to our risen savior, knowing that he lives to plead my cause. Again that great hymn of Wesley summarizes this truth as it reminds us:

The resurrected Christ is our advocate

Christ’s work of intercession is more than just his pleading. It is not as though the Father needs convincing and Jesus tries to find something good to say about us. What Stephen sees in heaven is a reality we must never forget. The risen Christ is standing at the right hand of God.

Elsewhere the Son is described as seated at the Father’s right side. It is repeated in Scripture and we confess this in the Apostles’ Creed. That Christ is seated is important.

The risen and ascended Christ seated in heaven is referred to as the session of Christ. We hear of a court in session or Congress is expected to pass a bill during this session of Congress. This is how we Presbyterians describe the leadership team of the elders, the Session. It comes from the Latin sessio “to sit” and is used to describe sitting with a view to governing. Psalm 110 describes the session of Christ as one of reigning and ruling over all creation.

Hebrews 10:11-13 tells us that Christ sat down after he finished his work of redemption.

The priests in the Old Testament stood to do their work, as there were no chairs in the tabernacle or temple, for their work was never finished. When Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice, his resurrection was the declaration that redemption was complete.

But in Acts Jesus is standing. Why? Augustine summarized the difference between Christ seated and here standing when he said: “he sat as a judge and then he stood then as an advocate.” This work of advocate serves two wonderful purposes:

Christ stands to represent us

Stephen was condemned by an earthly court, but Christ plead his case before the Father

The present value of the incarnation is that Christ intercedes for us by standing before the Father, pleading our case are our representative. While the earthly court finds Stephen guilty of blasphemy, Christ is a witness to Stephen’s defense.

Just as Stephen had been confessing Christ before men, now he sees Christ confessing his servant before God. The proper posture for a witness is the standing posture. Stephen, condemned by an earthly court, appeals for vindication to a heavenly court, and his vindicator in that supreme court is Jesus, who stands at God’s right hand as Stephen’s advocate.

This takes the idea of Christ interceding for us one step further. As you struggle with guilt from your sin, it is easy to wonder if God will still love you. Have you gone too far, is there any forgiveness left in God for a sinner like you? A moment ago we read from Hebrews 10:14 where we have a great comfort: Christ has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Notice the completed and on going nature of God’s work in you.

Christ stands to receive us

We are not told what was the expression of the face of the Son of Man as Stephen looked up toward heaven, but seeing the risen Christ, not seated, but standing, we can not but help to picture him arms outstretched, ready to receive Stephen.

Nothing so comfortable to dying saints, nor so animating to suffering saints, as to see Jesus at the right hand of God. On this Lord’s Day as we celebrate the resurrection of our savior, we celebrate with the sure certainty that we too will be raised from the dead and that Christ will receive us, his body, as his own.

Several years ago during a Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, one of the announcers made the comment that Walter Payton, the Bears running back, had accumulated over nine miles in career rushing yards; an amazing number of yards. The other announcer remarked, “Yeah, and that’s with someone knocking him down every 4.6 yards.”

Pushing forward, despite being knocked down - we can only do this when we first know the goal and have the means. For Walter Payton it was the end zone and the cheer of the crowd. For us something far greater. Heaven is our goal and we have Christ, who not only cheers us on, but far better, Christ has gone before us, secured a place there and has sent his Spirit to give us the strength to endure. Even now, he is seated for the work of your salvation is secured. Even now, he stands, representing your case, welcoming you home.