Jacob's Ladder
Scripture Reading: John 1:51
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Nathaniel is one of the more obscure disciples. John is the only one who mentions him by name, although many scholars believe the other gospels refer to him by the name Bartholomew.
Jesus says he is a man without guile. This meant he was an honest man. He was an open book. There was no pretense about him. With Nathaniel, what you saw is what he was.
Jesus said he saw him when he was under a fig tree. Nathaniel’s response to that – “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” – shows us that whatever Jesus meant by that, Nathaniel understood it as something of a miraculous nature.
When Jesus said that he was a man in whom there was no deceit, Nathaniel took it that someone had told Jesus about him. But when Jesus said that he saw him under a fig tree, Nathaniel quickly concluded that only the Son of God could do that.
This brief passage about the call of Nathaniel concludes with Jesus’ promise that he would see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This is an obvious reference to the Old Testament story of Jacob’s ladder. It brings into focus what that was about, or rather, who it was about.
Jacob’s ladder was a prophetic moment. It was meant to encourage and help Jacob in that moment, but it was also meant to be a type or a foreshadowing of Jesus. Jesus is the connection between heaven and earth. Everything that happens in the spiritual realm happens in and through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is Jacob’s ladder.
