Context, Context, Context

What’s your answer to the following question?
 
When the Sanhedrin gnashed their teeth at him, Stephen looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus doing what at the right hand of God? (Acts 7:55-56)
A. Standing.
B. Sitting.
C. Weeping.
D. Shouting.
 
This question was the eleventh question asked in the first round of our Bible Bowl at the
Leadership Training for Christ convention in Mobile this past weekend. I was taken by surprise
by the number of our students who missed this question.
 
I can understand the confusion. Nine times in the New American Standard Bible Jesus is
referenced as sitting at the right hand of God. This becomes the normal way we consider
Jesus at the right hand of God. When Stephen is stoned, it is stated twice that Jesus was
standing at the right hand of God.
 
The question reminded me of how important it is to make sure we are carefully reading what
the scriptures actually say. To read carefully, we must pay careful attention to context. To
read carefully, we must guard against reading our own thoughts into scripture but make every
effort to understand what the scripture is actually saying.
 
The worker unashamed is the one who handles the word of God correctly (2 Timothy 2:15).