Jesus Always Sees the
Rock Coming
The Stoning of Steven
Now when they heard
these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 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. And he said, “Behold, I see the
heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and
stopped their ears and rushed together at him.
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. And
as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.” 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.
Acts 7:54-60
I want to use this real historical event to speak about one
particular attribute of the living God.
Recently God has been coming at me from all different directions to
teach me about His command of all things.
As I continue to study Hebrews, this idea comes up again and again. The letter starts with the author declaring
that Jesus, the Son of God, upholds the universe by the word of His power! This very same Jesus also came to earth to
defeat sin and death by living a perfect life, dying on the Cross, and rising
from the dead!
So what does that have to do with Stephen? And if I’m talking about Hebrews, why did I
put up a passage from Acts?
I’ve heard it taught that when Stephen looked into he saw
Jesus standing to receive and welcome him into Heaven. While I don’t disagree with that, I think
there is something much more important to see from this passage. There is a more important “where” than just
in Heaven. Jesus is standing at the
right hand of God. Jesus is standing in
front of His throne. He is standing
there as the One to whom all authority in Heaven and on earth have been given
(Matthew 28:18). And He isn’t standing
there passively while pulling out His hair because He is hopeless to do
anything for His beloved Stephen. He is
standing there as King of the universe as capable in that instant to stop the
stones as He was capable of calling down legions of angels during Satan’s
tempting in the wilderness. And He
sovereignly looked on as Stephen was hit again and again with stones until he
eventually died.
Now let me tie this back in with Hebrews for a moment. At the end of chapter 10, the writer of
Hebrews is reminding his readers of persecution that they endured in the
past. He is reminding them of the
compassion they had on their friends who were imprisoned and how joyfully they
allowed their possessions to be taken from them and destroyed. But more than that, he is reminding them of
the Abiding Possession, Jesus Christ, who gives them the strength and courage
to face more and more affliction and persecution and desertion.
As he reminds them (and us) of Jesus, their (and our) greatest
treasure and delight, he urges them to hold on to their confidence and to keep
the faith. He urges them to press on
because Jesus is worth a thousand times more anguish than they are currently
facing.
And he links that confidence with endurance. Not just endurance to make it through
life. Not just endurance to fight a
little longer until the clouds break apart and the sun starts shining. But for what?
For you have need of
endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is
promised.
Hebrews 10:36
For the will of God.
They needed only to remember their great King Jesus to become renewed in
their confidence and to find endurance to continue to be persecuted and
afflicted, because they could be certain that God’s will was being done on
earth as it is in heaven.
Can’t you imagine the Holy Spirit reminding them as they
read this letter that Jesus had promised persecution and trials would come to
them?
So what does this mean for us? I don’t think anyone reading this is being
dragged out of his house to be stoned or has had her house burned down by
haters of Jesus. But we all face
affliction and if we are living in a manner worthy of the Gospel we are facing
persecution as well.
Maybe your family has not approved of your decision to
follow Christ. Maybe you feel beaten
down and oppressed by a situation at work or just wish you could change your
circumstances. Maybe you have suffered
the loss of a loved one or been through a bad break up or have an unresolved
conflict with someone you deeply care about.
What rocks do you see flying at your head?
Whatever rocks they may be, Jesus not only sees them coming,
but He is sovereign over them. He isn’t
surprised by anything that you face and He certainly isn’t sitting idly by
while you drag yourself along. He is
actively positioned at the right hand of God to remind you that all authority
is His.
Oh, that we would be like Stephen asking the Lord to forgive
these transgressors for their sins. That
we would be like Stephen and look up to Heaven when we are going through a
difficult trial. That we would be like
Stephen and have confidence that Jesus is in control and will provide us with
everything we need whether it be endurance or the removal of all the cancer or
the return of that same cancer or even death itself.
Whatever we face, we can be assured that God is sovereign
and He is good and that, for all of us who are in Christ, once we have done His
will and faithfully endured this life, we will receive an eternal inheritance
and live forever with Jesus Christ, our Lord.
You make known to me
the path of life;
in your presence there
is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are
pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
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