Image: Blue hydrangea, Charlottesville, Virginia, July 2017
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on John 1:47-51.
And he saith unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51).
This is an allusion to an account from the OT from the life of
Jacob when he fled from the wrath of his brother Esau and had a dream at a
place he later called Bethel. Compare:
Genesis 28:12 And
he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached
to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Jesus tells Nathaniel: The “greater things” (v. 50) that you
will see is a ladder that extends between men on earth and God in heaven, and
there will be messages that are going back and forth by means of that great
ladder.
Jesus refers to himself here as the Son of man. This is a
title that was especially preferred by Jesus when he talked of his suffering.
Compare:
Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man
must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief
priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
We should be careful of seeking out types from the OT, but
here is a type that comes with the authority of Christ himself. What does it
represent? Some moment in Christ’s ministry of deep communion with God (his
transfiguration? his prayerful agony in the garden?).
I think that ladder is most likely a reference to the cross
work of Christ. More than that, it is the man who extended his body on the
cross, who stretched out his arms upon the cross, who laid down his life upon
the cross. The ladder is the Word become flesh.
Jesus tells Nathaniel that he will see something greater, and
this will be the rightful basis for faith in me. It will be understanding his
death on the cross for sinners and his resurrection from the dead granting life
to those who believe. Discipleship is not discipleship until it unfolds the
significance of the cross and the empty tomb.
Calvin comments on this verse:
In short, this passage teaches us, that though he whole
human race was banished from the kingdom of God, the gate of heaven is now
opened to us, so that we are fellow-citizens of the saints, and companions of
angels (Eph 2:19) and that they, having been appointed to be guardians of our
salvation, descend from the blessed rest of the heavenly glory to relieve our
distress.
We have a ladder: He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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