Acts 7:55
Acts 7:5555But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
For Jehovah's Witnesses, is not especially contested — Stephen sees "a vision" of Jesus at God's right hand, which fits the general JW picture of Jesus as a glorified but subordinate being exalted beside Jehovah. The "right hand" imagery is read as positional honour (co-regency as a creature), not as shared divine identity. What is harder for the Watchtower frame is what Stephen does with the vision in the next two verses: he prays directly to Jesus ("Lord Jesus, receive my spirit") at the moment of death. JW commentary sometimes minimises this as acclamation rather than prayer, or as a brief exclamation addressed to the Father with Jesus in view. Stephen's own words do not support that.
is the setup for two convergent apologetic moves — use whichever fits the conversation the Witness is most ready for. First, the deity move: Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, sees Jesus at God's right hand and immediately prays to him — "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (v.59). Prayer at the moment of death, directed to Jesus, using the same verb Jesus himself used with the Father on the cross (, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit"). Stephen is doing to Jesus what Jesus did to the Father. Second, the consciousness move: Stephen expects Jesus to personally receive him NOW, not to bank a dormant life-force for a future resurrection. Walk gently: "If the spirit is only impersonal breath, what is Jesus receiving? And if Jesus is only an archangel, why is Stephen trusting him with what Jesus himself trusted only to the Father?" The vision in verse 55 is the hinge — the first thing Stephen sees; the prayer is what he does about it.