Sometimes when you follow Jesus around in the Gospels, He
drops little hints and makes allusions about Himself that, when you ponder
them, blow your mind.
I was rereading Jesus’ call to Nathanael, who became
one of the Twelve. Nathanael, skeptical that the Messiah could come from
Nazareth, met Jesus by Philip’s invitation. And Jesus’ first words to him were,
Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile
(John 1:47). Suddenly more than curious, he replied, “How do you know
me?” Jesus answered with another mind-blower: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you" (v. 48).
Now Nathanael was all in. Faith welled up within him, and he
said, "Rabbi, you are the
Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" But Jesus wasn't
through. He said, basically, You think
that’s something? Following Me means much greater things than the fact that I
saw you under the fig tree. Then this: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened,
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (John
1:51).
Heaven opened? Angels ascending and descending on the Son of
Man? What in the world is Jesus talking about? He casually drops this image on
Nathanael, and on us, and we are amazed. What does He mean? Is He saying He’s a
ladder, and the angels are climbing on Him?
Yes! Exactly. The image goes back 2000 years before Jesus’
sojourn on this planet. Remember Jacob, that wayward and selfish man who became
Israel, the father of faith? One night he lay down to sleep and had an
amazing dream. And he dreamed, and
behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! (Genesis 28:12)
Jacob was dreaming about Jesus, the One who opened heaven. Christ is the Ladder, the
bridge, the mediator, between heaven and earth. And in the days of His sojourn
on this earth, His angels ministered to Him, from His birth to His temptation,
even to a vigil outside His tomb.
I admire the Lord Jesus, and am so grateful He opened heaven to
hardheaded, wayward people like Jacob, Nathanael, and me.
I became a Christian at a youth summer camp between my
sophomore and junior years of high school. I remember singing an old spiritual,
“Jacob’s Ladder,” around the campfire. Here’s a pretty good video of that old
song.
