Stephen as the New Isaiah
Like Isaiah, Stephen is granted sight beyond the veil.
Stephen does not simply die well; he dies within a pattern Scripture has long prepared. It’s a pattern of hate and gnashing of teeth. But in the midst of such vulgarity, Stephen seems a scene behind the scenes. He sees the heavens opened.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ac 7:55–56.
Like Isaiah, Stephen is granted sight beyond the veil. He sees heavenly life before martyrdom. Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned and is commissioned to speak a word that will both reveal and judge. Stephen stands in that same line, but with greater clarity. Isaiah saw dimly, but Stephen sees sharply.
As the stones fall on him, perhaps stones that were sent from Saul himself, who presides over the execution, he sees “the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” This is a courtroom reversal. Earth condemns, but Heaven renders the true verdict. Jesus stands because he is the true and faithful witness (see Rev. 1 & 4).
As James B. Jordan would note, Stephen is Isaiah intensified. The temple vision has given way to the enthroned Christ Himself. To echo Leithart, martyrdom is vindication. Christ stands to receive His witness. Stephen’s Bible narrative is vindicated by the ferocity of the demon-possessed Sanhedrin.
Stephen is the new Isaiah, but now the vision is fully opened, and the prophet-deacon is welcomed in.