“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.

- Acts 7:51-58

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ trial, the high priest demands that Jesus state plainly whether he is the Messiah. Jesus first gives an ambiguous response—“That’s what you say”—as if to hint, “If you’re asking the question, perhaps you already see something.” If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… Then Jesus goes further: “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” That statement pushes the high priest over the edge. He tears his robe in outrage. For him, this isn’t just a rebel speaking - it’s blasphemy. Case closed.

At Stephen’s trial, it’s the same claim that lights the fuse: “I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” That vision seals his fate just as it did Jesus’.

Across much of Scripture, “son of man” simply means “human.” But Daniel 7 uses the phrase in a unique way. Daniel dreams of the beast-like kingdoms of the world - violent, arrogant powers - being judged before God. Then a human figure, “one like a son of man,” is brought into God’s presence and given everlasting authority. The dream isn’t about an ordinary human king; it’s about The Human, entrusted with divine rule over all creation.

Israel longed for a Messiah as an earthly king, someone who would lead Israel to political and military renewal. But Daniel’s vision points beyond that hope. Jesus’ claim isn’t merely, “I am the Messiah.” It is, “I am the Son of Man who shares the authority of the Ancient of Days.” Stephen’s vision confirms that Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension were not the end of his mission but his enthronement—not as a symbolic ruler or “king of our hearts” but as Lord over everything.

Suffering comes to all of us. When it does, Stephen’s story reminds us what sustained him. He saw a reality more solid than the stones and curses around him: Jesus, the Son of Man, reigning. It's not politicians, populists, influencers, despots, bankers, generals, judges or tech-entrepreneurs that are in control. Jesus, the Son of Man, is on the throne.