What Stephen Saw

During the past couple of months, we have been "taping" the book of Acts. Well, who uses tapes anymore? No one. So I should say we have been "digitally recording" the book of Acts on my iPod. This is a step in the translation process that I get to do. We start with a rough draft of a chapter of Acts. Then my language helper, Rini, listens as I read a section of the chapter a number of times through, until she gets the meaning of the passage down in her mind. Then I make a recording of Rini saying that passage back in her own words.

Rini has been great at this process. She is very patient, and doesn't get tired of repeating the same portion of Scripture over and over. I record each section at least twice, and then work up to having larger and larger sections linked together. It gets pretty repetitious. To me it can sometimes seem tedious. Acts has some loooong chapters, some are 60 or 70 verses long. But Rini doesn't seem to mind. She says it is easy. She is really good at re-wording the passages in a natural style of Palawano, just like someone was talking, telling the Bible story in Palawano.

Then while we are working, all of a sudden, out of the blue, a truth from the passage we are reading and recording will zero right into my heart, and touch me to the core. I'll find my eyes filling with tears. Like the end of Acts Chapter 7, where Stephen is giving his sermon, and the religious leaders are getting furious at him. It says they were gnashing their teeth. And Stephen gazes up to heaven and says, "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Wait a minute, wait a minute! I thought Jesus was seated at the right hand of God. We just read that back in Chapter 2. Why is Jesus standing here? And I see a picture of Jesus, closely watching the scene below, following what is happening to Stephen. I think He is standing out of respect for his beloved child and follower, who He knows is taking abuse for His sake. And not only that, but when I see Jesus standing, right there at the right hand of God, I know He is perfectly able to stop the horrible stoning death of Stephen that follows. But He chooses not to. He withholds His power in this situation. He watched what happened, but He didn't stop it. He could have. In other passages in Acts, Jesus' followers disappear in the midst of angry crowds, are freed from prison in the middle of the night, or are spirited away during broad daylight.

But Stephen wasn't kept from dying for Christ's sake. Jesus could have intervened. He didn't. I thought of Martin Burnham, who didn't survive his horrible ordeal at the hands of terrorists. God could have allowed him to live. He has all power. But He didn't. But I imagine Jesus was standing that day when the bullets took Martin's life, watching with respect and love what was happening to His beloved child and follower.