It should be noted that we not only have a narrated account of Jesus standing on this occasion in v. 55, but Stephen also gives a verbal report of this in v. 56: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” These words are actually the conclusion to Stephen’s speech which began all the way back in Acts 7:2. Furthermore, this conclusion follows immediately upon Stephen’s strongly worded accusation that old covenant Israel was a rebellious nation:
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 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, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it (Acts 7:51–53).
The immediate context for Jesus standing, therefore, is Stephen’s blatant accusation of covenant rebellion on the part of the ancient nation of Israel.
It is also significant that Stephen’s reporting of the vision of Jesus standing in heaven creates a parallel with Dan 7:13, where one like the son of man comes into the presence of the Ancient of Days, and is presented before him. It is most natural that this son of man would have been standing before God during his presentation. So the idea of Jesus standing as mentioned by Stephen seems to allude to Dan 7:13. This allusion functions as a bold presentation by Stephen of the Christian claim in the polemical context of the time. The claim was that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of Man in fulfillment of Dan 7. In addition, the conceptual parallel between the giving of the kingdom to this son of man in Dan 7:14 and the giving of the kingdom to “the saints of the Most High” in Dan 7:27 brings the courtroom scene of Dan 7:26 (where the power of the evil little horn is taken away) into the picture.
Altogether, therefore, Jesus standing in Acts 7:55 conveys his authority as the Son of Man, along with his power to judge the enemies of God’s people. Jesus standing particularly highlights his role as Judge: “the court shall sit in judgment” (Dan 7:26); “[the Father] has given [the Son] authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27).
The fact that Stephen’s opponents “cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him” (Acts 7:57) as soon as he had spoken about Jesus standing at the right hand of God shows that they understood the christological import of Stephen’s description of Jesus. In sum, Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father in Acts 7:55–56 conveys that Jesus is the Messiah (in fulfillment of Ps 110), and the Son of Man (in fulfillment of Dan 7), who has the authority to execute judgment on behalf of God and his people. Viewed in the context of Stephen's speech, it is as if Jesus is standing to confirm the veracity of the accusation that Stephen had brought against the nation of Israel, and to indicate that he is the Son of Man of Dan 7 who will judge those who persecute “the saints of the Most High” (Dan 7:27). Stephen's death, like that of the prophets and the Righteous One before him (Acts 7:52), would not be in vain.
