For those who follow Jesus, who become disciples with lives yielded to him, Jesus will be like the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream at Bethel (Genesis 28:12). Jesus’ promise to Nathanael was that he would “see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”. In what sense was this fulfilled? Did Nathanael see this? Jesus was speaking figuratively here with reference to Jacob’s dream and all that it signified. The allusion is a powerful one. Jesus said this in the context of predicting also that Nathanael would see Jesus do many great works. Jesus is hereby explaining the significance of what John, the writer of this gospel, refers to as his ‘signs’, that is, his miracles. Jesus’ miracles signify that heaven and earth have been reconciled again through him and that he himself is the portal through which the two can interact. Jacob called the place of his vision of the ladder ‘Bethel’ which means ‘house of God’. Later the temple, also called ‘the house of God’, would come to signify the same thing. It was seen as a kind of portal through which heaven interfaces with the realm of earth. Jesus referred to himself as the temple and since he has poured out his Spirit into our hearts it can be said that we also are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In other words, to bring this all together, the vessel through which God pours out his blessings from heaven to earth is no less or more than our own hearts. What is passing back and forth in your heart?
What is it in your heart that needs to ascend to God and what from God is descending into your heart?
Read John 1:35-51
